Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday has sought a reply from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz on April 7 on a National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea challenging her bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
A two-member bench of LHC has conducted the hearing during which, Chaudhry Khaleeq-uz-Zaman and Faisal Bukhari appeared before the court from NAB side while Maryam Nawaz didn’t attend the proceedings.
NAB lawyer told the LHC judges that PML-N leader is misusing her bail and not appearing before the anti-graft watchdog. Maryam Nawaz had pelted stones at NAB office with the help of her activists, he alleged.
The NAB representative further adopted the stance that inquiry against PML-N vice present has been changed into investigation.
Earlier today, Maryam Nawaz reiterated that she is not afraid of detentions and threats.
Talking to media at Jati Umra in Lahore, the PML-N leader said that ‘fake’ leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are in panic condition due to the popularity of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The concerned authorities are ready to arrest the opposition leaders whenever they talk about the rallies or long march, she added.
Maryam Nawaz, while responding to the NAB s move to challenge her bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills, asked how can the anti-graft watchdog get the authority to scrutinize statements of the witnesses.
NAB has failed to perform its duty regarding elimination of corruption from the country, she asserted.
The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) had filed petition seeking cancellation of post-arrest bail granted to PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
The LHC had released Maryam Nawaz on November 4, 2019 on bail with direction to surrender her passport to the Registrar’s office of the court to show her bonafide since the NAB had feared she could flee the country.
“The respondent has chosen a path of attacking the state institutions and tried to cause friction in the rank and file of armed forces and is also inciting the general public against them by publicly attacking them and the heads of other institutions,” the petition said.
“Despite being released on bail, Maryam Nawaz is not cooperating with NAB in the investigations,” read the petition filed by the anti-graft body.
NAB told the court that the PML-N leader was summoned to submit documents in relation to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on 10 January of last year.
It said the PML-N leader did not give any response to the notice and neither did she submit the requested documents.
NAB then said that, after her failure to submit the documents, it had summoned Maryam to appear in person on August 11 of last year.
It alleged that, on that day, the PML-N leader used her political power and attacked the NAB offices. The bureau added that a separate case had been registered against the PML-N leader over the incident. It added that Maryam, by not appearing for the examination, was obstructing the investigation.
