Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif calls himself 'Majnoo' in special court hearing

Lahore [Pakistan], May 28 : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday called himself as a "majnoo" as he testified in a special court hearing in the Pakistan Rupee 16 billion money laundering case against him and his sons- Hamza and Suleman.
Categorically rejecting the allegations of money laundering against him, Shehbaz Sharif apprised the court that he had never received a his salary when he was the Chief Minister of Punjab province and termed himself a "majnoo", an urdu word for a fool.
During the argument before Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan, Prime Minister Shehbaz took the rostrum and said the case against him was "false".
"I have not taken anything from the government in 12.5 years," he said, adding that he used to get the government car in his use refuelled from his own pocket.
"God has made me the prime minister of this country. I am a majnoo. I did not take my legal right, I did not take salary and benefits," he said, according to Dawn newspaper.
Furthermore in the hearing, the counsel of Shehbaz and Hamza, Mohammad Amjad Pervaiz argued before Special court Judge Ijaz Hassan Awan that the facts in the challan were incorrect.
"This case was mala fide because it was politically motivated. The law says if there are 10 cases against someone, he cannot be arrested separately for each."
He recalled that the secretary had sent a summary to him for sugar export during his tenure as Punjab chief minister, adding that he had set an export limit and rejected summaries, the Dawn reported.
"My family lost Rs 2 billion because of my decision. I am telling you the reality. When my son's ethanol production plant was being set up, I still decided to impose a duty on ethanol. My family lost Rs 800 million annually because of that decision. The previous government withdrew that notification stating that it was injustice with the sugar mills," Shehbaz said.
Following this, the judge allowed Shehbaz and Hamza to leave, saying that the hearing could proceed without their presence.
The court had extended the interim bail of Shehbaz and Hamza till May 28, during the hearing, last week and also issued an arrest warrant for three others, including Suleman Shahbaz, Tahir Naqvi, and Malik Maqsood stating that the three have been declared absconders by the magistrate court, Geo TV reported.
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in December 2021 had submitted the challan against Shehbaz and Hamza before the special court for their alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs 16 billion in the sugar scam case.