LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) that it does not require passport of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz.
The statement was made in a reply filed by the bureau to an application filed by Maryam Nawaz for return of her passport, which was surrendered to the LHC deputy registrar (judicial) after she got bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
The NAB further stated in its reply, that it was a matter of enforcement of fundamental rights and as per judgments of the Supreme Court, the registration of a criminal case could not deprive citizens from exercising the fundamental rights.
The LHC had issued notices and sought reply from the NAB on Maryam Nawaz’s application for return of her passport, on last hearing, September 14
A three-member LHC bench headed by LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti on Tuesday heard the civil miscellenous application filed by Maryam Nawaz for return of her passport, in a pending petition.
As the proceedings started, Maryam Nawaz’s junior counsel informed the bench that senior counsel Advocate Amjad Pervaiz was busy before another court and he would reach this court within a few moments. He pleaded with the court to wait a little.
However, the chief justice took a strict notice of Amjad Pervaiz’s absence and remarked that the time was fixed for hearing of the case and Amjad Pervaiz was aware of it. Whether he was unaware of which bench was larger and where he had to appear, he added.
Subsequently, the bench adjourned the further proceedings till October 3. However, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz entered the courtroom soon after the judges left.
Maryam Nawaz had submitted that a LHC division bench granted bail to her in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case  on November 4, 2019 and ordered for depositing Rs70 million and surrendering her passport to secure the release.
She submitted that freedom of movement was a fundamental right and no one could be deprived of that fundamental right for a long time. She submitted that she was deprived of her fundamental right despite a lapse of four years. She pleaded with the court to issue directions for the return of her passport.
The agency opposed the return of the travel document to Nawaz, saying her brothers and other members of the family are already in London to look after Sharif who travelled to the British capital in 2019 on the pretext of medical treatment and has since refused to return.
However, it was before the government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition appointed Aftab Sultan, a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) who former prime minister Imran Khan accused of assisting the PML-N in selecting its candidates for the general elections in 2018, as the new chairman of the bureau.
Interestingly, Sultan himself is a suspect in a reference NAB approved in 2020 against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly illegal purchase of 73 high-security vehicles for the security of foreign dignitaries.
The suspects are accused of favouritism and illegal use of vehicles, causing a loss of over Rs1,952 million to the national exchequer.
