Lahore High Court Will Hear NAB’s Plea To Cancel Maryam’s Bail

Lahore High Court Will Hear NAB’s Plea To Cancel Maryam’s Bail
LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) for cancellation of bail granted to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

The petition has been fixed for hearing on Monday (March 15) and will be heard by a two-member bench presided over by Justice Sardar Sarfaraz Dogar.

In the petition filed through the prosecutor general of Punjab, NAB has named Maryam Nawaz and the Interior Ministry as respondents in the case. The NAB argued that Maryam Nawaz is misusing her bail as she refuses to appear before the bureau despite repeated summons. The anti-corruption body maintained that after her release on bail, she has been attacking state institutions through media and social media, and has continuously made false accusations and is engaged in anti-state propaganda.

The plea further stated that several investigations are underway against the PML-N leader but she is not cooperating with the accountability watchdog despite being on bail. According to the petition, Maryam failed to provide the required documents, after which she was summoned in person on August 11, 2020. However, instead of appearing before the bureau, she used her political power to attack the NAB office. A separate case has been registered against the PML-N leader in connection with the attack, the petition added.

The NAB argued that Maryam is obstructing the investigation by not appearing, and is using tactics to give the public the impression that state institutions are inactive. “She is deliberately making statements tarnishing the image of state institutions, and despite being released on bail, she is not cooperating with the NAB investigation; therefore, her bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills money laundering case should be cancelled,” the watchdog said in its plea.

Earlier on November 4, 2019, the LHC had granted bail to Maryam Nawaz who was arrested in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case.

The two-member bench of the high court, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, had announced the verdict and ordered her to furnish two surety bonds, each worth Rs10 million, and deposit an additional Rs70 million and surrender her passport to secure her release.

At the time, the NAB prosecutor had opposed the PML-N leader’s plea, which Maryam had filed after her father Nawaz Sharif was hospitalised in critical condition. TLTP