PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) Monday for interim pre-arrest bail, saying there was a possibility that he would be arrested during his appearance before NAB, 24NewsHD TV channel.

The NAB has summoned Shehbaz – who is also Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly – on June 2 (Tuesday) in connection with the ongoing investigation in the assets beyond means and alleged money laundering cases. Accepting the plea, the LHC fixed the application for hearing on Tuesday as a two-member bench headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi will hear the matter.

In the application submitted through his lawyer Amjad Pervaiz, the NAB chairman and others have been nominated as respondents. Shehbaz argued that he had been fully cooperating with the investigators and submitted all the records, including that of tax. The accusations of money laundering are baseless, he added.

The court was moved as Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid has been claiming that everyone would be swept after Eid and the next two months are very important in that respect. On the other hand, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shahzad Akbar too has held multiple press conferences in which Shehbaz and his family remained the main topic.

Earlier on May 4, the PML-N president appeared before a combined investigation team, unlike the past two summons which were not complied with, but the NAB dismissed every explanation given by him in response to the queries during his appearance and summoned him again on June 2. Shehbaz had told the investigators that all his assets were declared and he had already submitted relevant details to NAB. He reiterated that he did not commit corruption of a single rupee rather saved billions of rupees in development projects when he was the Punjab chief minister.

As the NAB described his answers as unsatisfactory, the PML-N had responded that it was political victimisation and Shehbaz was being targeted despite the fact that all the accusations were baseless. PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had said that Shehbaz had not been asked any question about money laundering and the NAB was lying in that regard.

She also demanded a televised public inquiry of Shehbaz by NAB “so that the nation could see what this circus is all about.”