The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that it did not require Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s passport that she had surrendered to the court for getting bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
The bureau had previously opposed the petition filed by the PML-N leader seeking the return of her passport.
A LHC three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti heard the petition.
During the proceedings, the anti-corruption watchdog submitted a two-page reply before the full bench, which was constituted earlier this month after several judges recused themselves from hearing Maryam’s plea, and said that the Supreme Court had already declared that a suspect in a criminal case could not be deprived of fundamental rights.
“There will be no objection from the NAB side if the passport of Maryam Nawaz is returned to her,” read the bureau’s reply.
Advocate Amjad Pervaiz, who was representing Maryam in the case, appeared before the court late, which irked the bench hearing the case.
“[The] full bench is hearing the case. Does Amjad Pervaiz not know before which bench he has to appear first?” the bench observed. The bench put off further hearing till October 3.
In the previous hearing, Maryam counsel had argued that the main case against his client had been pending for the last couple of years and the reference in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case was yet to be filed before the relevant court.
Giving reference to the judgment of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the counsel contended that NAB had said that the name of the accused could not be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) at this stage.
The counsel submitted that on August 8, 2019, when Maryam Nawaz was visiting her father at the Central Jail Lahore, she was arrested in an inquiry initiated by NAB and was barred from completing her visit.
The petitioner’s counsel stated that her physical custody was remanded to an investigating officer for 48 days after being sent to judicial lock-up and later she was allowed post-arrest bail on merits by the Lahore High Court. The petitioner also informed the court that she had surrendered her passport and deposited the required amount of Rs70 million.
He contended that she was unable to exercise her fundamental rights for the last four years despite the absence of any charge sheet or trial.
“There may not be any apprehension of abscondance or otherwise in view of the track record of the petitioner who, notwithstanding a conviction order against her, voluntarily came back to Pakistan to surrender to the process of law while leaving behind her ailing mother on death bed,” argued advocate Pervaiz.
