LHC bench hearing Maryam's plea dissolved

New bench formed to hear Maryam Nawaz's plea seeking permission to fly abroad

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Saturday dissolved a division bench hearing a petition filed by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz wherein she had sought a one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks to visit her ailing father, former premier Nawaz Sharif.

LHC Chief Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh has formed a new bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, who had earlier heard this case. The second member of this bench will be Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh. It will start hearing the plea from February 10.

The dissolved bench was headed by Justice Tariq Abbasi and also comprised Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq.

Justice Najafi had earlier been a part of the bench which was hearing Maryam’s petition requesting to remove her name from the no-fly list, but the bench was also dissolved.

No substantial development had occurred in the proceedings when the bench, headed by Justice Abbasi, was hearing the case.

Maryam was arrested by NAB on August 8, 2019, in a case regarding suspect business transactions at the Chaudhry Sugar Mills where she is a major shareholder.

On November 4 last year, she was granted bail by the LHC which ordered her to furnish two surety bonds worth Rs20 million, and deposit an additional Rs70million and surrender her passport to secure her release.

In her petition, Maryam said her father’s health was critical and she was under unexplainable stress because of her inability to be with him at a time when he needs extra care. She said her father is dependent on her.

She also mentioned the death of her mother, Kulsoom Nawaz, who passed away in London last year, while she accompanied her father who returned to Pakistan to serve a sentence, awarded by an accountability court in a NAB reference.

She contended that her name was placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) without notice, which is violation of her fundamental rights. She contended that the “so-called recommendations” of NAB were acted upon in a mechanical manner and without judicious application of mind in contravention of the law.

She also contended that NAB’s or the government’s apprehensions about her absconding “does not appeal to reason in view of the petitioner’s track record”.

She stressed that there was no default in appearance before the trial court over a period of one-and-a-half year and the petitioner and her father went abroad and came back even during the pendency of trial on more than one occasions.

In December 2019, the LHC had directed the federal interior ministry to decide Maryam’s request within seven days.

Later that month, she filed a second petition after the government failed to decide her matter.

The federal cabinet eventually decided against removing her name from the ECL.