LAHORE - A member of the Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench Thursday recused himself from hearing an application, filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif for return of her passport.
Her application was fixed for hearing before a bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Anwaarul Haq Pannu.
However, Justice Anwaarul Haq recused himself from hearing the application, at the very outset of the proceedings. At this, the bench referred the application to LHC chief justice with a request for formation of a new bench to hear the matter.
Through a fresh civil miscellaneous application filed in her pending writ petition, Maryam Nawaz submitted that she surrendered her passport to the LHC registrar office after a division bench granted her post-arrest bail on merit in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case in 2019.
She submitted that the National Accountability Bureau failed to file the reference despite a lapse of about three years. She submitted that freedom of movement was a fundamental right and no one could be deprived of that right for a long time. She pleaded with the court to issue directions for return of her passport