An accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday ordered Shehbaz Sharif to appear in person on August 6 when he and the other accused including son, Hamza Shehbaz, would be indicted in the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference.

Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz was presented before the court by the jail authorities amid tight security arrangement. But Amjad Pervaiz – the counsel for Shehbaz – again filed an application to exempt his client from appearing in person.

The judge said Shehbaz should have attended the hearing as he had been given enough time. However, the defence counsel replied that his client was a coronavirus patient and a bail plea had been pending with the Lahore High Court in the same case, which exempted him from appearing in person.

The hearing on Wednesday was meant to indict Shehbaz and Hamza in the case but it could not happen because of the health condition of the PML-N president.

In February 2019, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed this reference, nominating the two as the primary accused.

Shehbaz Sharif, being the Punjab chief minister, has accused of issuing a directive for the construction of a drain in Chiniot district primarily to benefit the sugar mills owned by his sons.

The NAB alleged that Shehbaz misused his authority to benefit the factory owned by his sons. Shehbaz and Hamza fraudulently and dishonestly caused an Rs213 million loss to the national exchequer, it added.

On the other hand, the accountability court admin judge, Jawad-ul-Hassan, extended the judicial remand of Hamza in the assets beyond means and money laundering case till July 15. Shehbaz is also nominated in this case.

During the hearing the NAB prosecutor assured the court of filing the reference soon which was in the final stages of preparation. The co-accused of Hamza were being interrogated, he added.