LAHORE - On a day the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif an eight-week bail on medical grounds, the Lahore High Court (LHC) adjourned till today (Wednesday) hearing of the bail application moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz in Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case on the request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director general.
The court was told that the NAB prosecutor, who was supposed to present the case, was busy in IHC in connection with the former prime minister’s case.
The NAB had accused Maryam, the main shareholder in CSM, of laundering money through investments of huge amounts.
Maryam, in her bail plea, had complained about being subjected to ‘double jeopardy’, saying a JIT constituted in Panama Leaks case had already investigated the same matter and decided not to file reference against her.
She had also questioned the jurisdiction of the NAB chairman for approving the inquiry against her under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
Maryam had also filed a civil miscellaneous application in the case for her release on humanitarian grounds so that she could look after her ailing father in the hospital.
In a preliminary investigative report on Maryam’s bail plea, submitted to the LHC, NAB had expressed the fear that she might flee abroad.
The NAB, in its report, had stated that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice-president’s crime was not only against one individual, but the entire society, and that she kept obstructing the probe against her. “Earlier, Yousaf Abbas, another accused in CSM reference, had also tried to escape,” reads the report.
The PML-N leader, initially, owned 8,064,000 shares in Chaudhry Sugar Mills, while between 2008 to 2010, she became the owner of 47 percent shares. Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, had invested in Chaudhry and Shamim Sugar Mills, but both of them did not disclose their investments, the reported stated.
In her application filed in the LHC on October 24, Maryam had requested the court to release her on bail as her father was unwell and undergoing medical treatment at the hospital.