Ghwim

Several hearings and a court order led to Suleman Shehbaz's return to Pakistan. The son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was absconding from Pakistan since 2018. He arrived in Islamabad on Saturday evening in business class with two bags of luggage. He was also seen meeting his father at the Prime Minister's residence. The PML-N official Twitter handle shared a video of the reunion. It was tweeted by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Attaullah Tarar.

During the four years he was in exile, Suleman had moved to London with his family and was facing charges of money laundering. According to a report by Dawn newspaper, Suleman owned shares in 16 companies worth Rs2 billion, and had Rs4 million in bank accounts. The NAB had seized shares, agricultural land and cash from him. The agency attached over 209 kanals of agricultural land and a cash amount of Rs 4.1 million. The investigation showed that Rs16.3 billion were laundered during the period from 2008 to 18.

On May 28, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued arrest warrants for Suleman. In October, a special central court acquitted Shehbaz and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, in a Rs16 billion money laundering case. The FIA said it had uncovered a money trail that showed that Rs16 billion was laundered from 2008 to 2018. During the last four years, the FIA had booked Shehbaz, his two sons and 11 low-paid Sharif family employees for money laundering.

The FIA had alleged that money had been transferred to Shehbaz through illegal practices such as hundi and benamidar accounts. The agency had also seized a large number of land pieces from Shehbaz's family members and employees, and reported that it had unearthed billions of rupees from the accounts. In addition, a report by the FIA banking crime circle claimed that it had uncovered billions of rupees in benamidar and benamidar accounts of Shehbaz family members. The report was due to be submitted to the court in December 2021.

During the four years he spent in exile, Suleman Shehbaz was also a target of a political retaliation by the government. The PML-N had repeatedly stated that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan to face corruption charges. In April 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan restricted Nawaz Sharif for life from holding political office. Imran Khan has criticized the Pakistani government for its "injustice".

Ahead of the general election in 2018, the FIA had registered multiple cases against Sharif and his sons. On November 26, the Islamabad High Court barred the FIA from arresting Sharif and ordered him to surrender to the court by December 13. The Supreme Court had also granted protective bail to Sharif and his sons until Dec 13. On Wednesday, Suleman approached the Islamabad High Court through his lawyer and sought a two-week protective bail to return to Pakistan and end his exile. The Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, Farooq Abdullah, said that it was necessary for the applicant to be present in court. The FIA told the court that its officers were not allowed to arrest Suleman because he was living abroad. The court accepted his request and barred the FIA from arresting him until Dec 13.