LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) bench issued a split decision on the post-arrest bail petition of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, sending the matter to the chief justice for the nomination of a referee judge.
Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, who headed the bench, allowed the petition while its other member Justice Asjad Javed Ghural dismissed the same on merits. In his dissenting order, Justice Ghural also accused the senior judge of issuing the bail granting short order ‘unilaterally’.
In his dissenting order, Justice Ghural also accused the senior judge of issuing the bail granting short order ‘unilaterally’. “It is shocking for me to observe that unanimous order qua grant of bail to the petitioner was announced, which is against the ground reality,” said Justice Ghural.
Justice Ghural said he brought the matter to the knowledge of the LHC chief justice immediately and requested him to appoint a referee judge to decide the bail matter.
Both the bench members have forwarded their separate judgments to LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan. The CJ will nominate a third referee judge whose judgment will determine whether Shehbaz can come out of prison or not.
National Assembly Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 28, 2020 after the LHC rejected his bail plea in a money laundering case.
Shehbaz was taken into custody from the court’s premises, where a large number of PML-N workers and supporters had gathered ahead of the hearing.
