Former PM’s daughter Maryam granted bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case
Maryam Nawaz waves outside the Islamabad High Court building. File / AP
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday granted bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President and daughter of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Aug.8 in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case.
She was bailed out on humanitarian grounds to look after her ailing father.
Maryam was ordered to submit surety bonds worth Rs10 million, and deposit an additional Rs70million and surrender her passport to secure her release.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem announced the verdict. The legal representatives of Maryam and NAB were present in the court.
The bench had reserved its verdict on October 31 after both the petitioner and NAB had concluded their arguments.
The PML-N vice president had approached the high court on Sept.30 seeking post-arrest bail in the CSM case, in which she is suspected of money laundering.
Following the sudden deterioration in the health of her father, she filed a miscellaneous petition on Oct.24 seeking immediate bail on the basis of fundamental rights and humanitarian reasons. On Oct.29, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) her father's sentence in the Al Azizia case for eight weeks.
Before the IHC reserved its verdict on Maryam's bail plea, NAB's additional prosecutor general Jahanzaib Bharwana had opposed her request for bail on humanitarian grounds and said it has been established by Supreme Court's verdicts that a suspect can only be granted bail in extraordinary circumstances. "Maryam Nawaz's case does not qualify as an extraordinary one."
The PML-N leader had been allowed to see her father once last month when she herself was admitted to the Services Hospital Lahore due to some health complaints. The development came after a request was sent by the party to the Punjab Home Department asking for special permission to be granted.
Maryam and her cousin Yousuf Abbas were arrested by NAB on August 8 in the CSM case. Later, on Sept.25, they were sent to jail on judicial remand by an accountability court in Lahore.
