ISLAMABAD (National Times) – Salman Shehbaz, son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will return to Pakistan on Sunday.

Salman Shehbaz will reach the Islamabad Airport on flight SV-726 at midnight. The prime minister’s son had filed a protective bail plea in court to escape arrest. He stated in his appeal, “I want to return to Pakistan to stand before the court in the case against me.” He asked for a protective bail so that he could appear in court to defend himself.

In the petition, it was said that a case of money laundering was filed and the allegations were false and baseless and all his shares were registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). He said he had been in the UK since Oct 27, 2018 but never received a notice from the FIA. He also stated that the FIA had filed a case against him in his absence after he went abroad in 2018 while the case was made in 2020 and after that, he was declared a proclaimed offender, so court should grant two-week protective bail.

On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting Salman Shehbaz upon his arrival from London. IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan passed the order while hearing the plea for the protective bail. At the outset of the hearing, Salman Shehbaz’s counsel said his client would return to Pakistan on Dec 11 via Saudi Airlines and pleaded the court to grant him protective bail.

The IHC CJ remarked that the client should appear in person for the protective bail. Later, the court barred the FIA from arresting Salman Shehbaz upon his arrival at the airport and directed him to surrender himself before the IHC by Dec 13.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had written a letter to the UK government to hand over Salman who was wanted by the accountability watchdog under money-laundering charges and another case.