Maryam’s lawyer says Captain(s) Safdar Awan will receive the amount once the written order is issued
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Photo: File
The Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the repayment of Rs 70 million. deposited by Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz as a surety in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case after the anti-corruption watchdog withdrew its case in the case.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum heard the petition for release of the amount.
During the hearing, NAB’s counsel presented a statement confirming the withdrawal of the constitutional case. After the submission, the court accepted Maryam’s plea and ordered the return of the Rs.70 million deposited in the high court as security money in the case.
According to the petition, the amount had been deposited as security during cases relating to the sugar mill reference. The petitioner argued that since NAB had already closed the case, the deposited amount should be released.
Read more: LHC seeks NAB response on Maryam Nawaz’s refund of Rs70m. in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case
Speaking to the media after the hearing, Maryam’s lawyer Javed Arshad said the court had accepted the petition and that Captain (r) Safdar Awan would receive the amount once the written order was issued. He added that the application was filed after NAB formally closed its case against Maryam in the case.
It is worth mentioning that a week ago, an LHC division bench disposed of a NAB petition for cancellation of bail for CM Maryam in the sugar mill case. During the proceedings, a prosecutor informed the court that CM had been acquitted in the case, hence the petition to cancel her bail was futile.
But the bench, allowing NAB’s submissions, dismissed the petition as infructuous.
It is also pertinent to mention that on November 4, 2019, the LHC had released CM Maryam in the sugar mill case on bail, subject to surrendering her passport to the court. She was also ordered to deposit Rs70 million with the registrar.
Read also: LHC delivers a detailed judgment in the sugar mill case
Later, on October 3, 2022, a full bench of the LHC returned the passport to the chief minister after the NAB said it no longer required the travel document.
A NAB team had arrested CM Maryam on August 8, 2019, when she was present in Kot Lakhpat jail on her weekly visit to her jailed father, Nawaz Sharif, along with her daughter and other relatives.
