Observer Report Lahore
The Lahore High Court on Saturday accepted for hearing a petition by the National Accountability Bureau for the cancellation of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
A two-judge bench headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar will hear the petition moved by the watchdog on March 15.
According to the petition, Maryam had been released on bail over money laundering charges in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
It quoted NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal as saying that since her bail, Maryam had been “continuously attacking state institutions” and making statements against them on media and social media.
“Maryam Nawaz is also engaged in anti-state propaganda,” the NAB chairman said in the petition.
It claimed that Maryam was deliberately making statements to tarnish the image of state institutions and give the impression that they had become inactive.
The petition added that Maryam had not responded to NAB notices sent on January 10, 2020, to provide documents in the CSM case.
Furthermore, she “used her political power and attacked the NAB office” when she was summoned in person on August 11, 2020, for not providing her documents, according to the petition.
“Maryam Nawaz’s bail in the CSM money laundering case should be cancelled,” the petition prayed.
Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that NAB wanted to silence Maryam Nawaz.
He said that the case in which Maryam Nawaz was granted bail was not even mentioned in the petition.
Talking to media along with PML-N spokesperson Maryam Aurangzeb, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that NAB tried to intimidate Maryam Nawaz.
Maryam Nawaz was accused of paralyzing NAB adding that Maryam’s vehicle was attacked and smashed by police when she was on her way to NAB office.
He said when no evidence was found against Maryam, such a petition was filed.
There is no such precedent in legal history. The court will fine NAB on this frivolous petition. The purpose of this petition is to waste court time.
