The court stops the FIA from detaining the Prime Minister’s absconding son upon his return.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has barred the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from detaining Suleman Shehbaz, one of the prime minister’s two sons, in a money laundering case, opening the way for his safe return on Sunday after spending four years in London in self-imposed exile.

Shehbaz has been living in London with his family since 2018, ostensibly to avoid various corruption and money embezzlement investigations started against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) before of that year’s general elections.

He was declared a proclaimed offender the following year after refusing to appear before the dirty money watchdog in the Rs16 billion scandal involving members of his family, including Shehbaz Sharif, despite repeated summons, and was issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.

Following his designation as an offender, the watchdog agency attempted to bring him back several times but was unsuccessful for various reasons.

Following that, on Wednesday, he sought protective bail from the high court, allowing him to “surrender” before an accountability court.

During the hearings, Aamer Farooq, the chief judge of the high court, instructed the petitioner to appear in court by December 13 and barred the central investigation agency from detaining him until then.

To be eligible for protective bail, an applicant must be present in court, according to Justice Farooq. At this point, the defendant’s attorney informed the court that Shehbaz was scheduled to return to Islamabad on Sunday.

“He wants to come before the authorities,” he continued, stressing that the court had previously granted similar protected bail.

Following the arguments, the court granted the request for protection and ordered Shehbaz to appear in person before it on December 13.