The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) told the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz’s passport was not required. A three-member bench headed by LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti was hearing the PML-N leader’s petition seeking return of her passport, which she had surrendered before the LHC’s deputy registrar (judicial) after she received post-arrest bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSML) case. As the proceedings started, Maryam Nawaz’s junior counsel informed the bench that senior counsel Advocate Amjad Pervaiz was busy before another court and he would reach this court within a few moments. He pleaded with the bench to wait a little. However, the chief justice took a strict notice of Amjad Pervaiz’s absence and remarked that the time was fixed for hearing of the case and Amjad Pervaiz was aware of it. Whether he was unaware of which bench was larger and where he had to appear, he added. Subsequently, the bench adjourned the further proceedings till October 3.
However, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz entered the courtroom soon after the judges left. It is pertinent to inform that the Bureau also filed a reply to the application in response to the court directions. Maryam Nawaz had submitted that a LHC division bench granted bail to her in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case in 2019 and ordered for depositing Rs 70 million and surrendering her passport to secure the release.
She submitted that freedom of movement was a fundamental right and no one could be deprived of that fundamental right for a long time. She submitted that she was deprived of her fundamental right despite a lapse of four years. She pleaded with the court to issue directions for the return of her passport.
