The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on the bail petition of Maryam Nawaz in Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case. Maryam had approached the LHC for bail on the basis of fundamental rights and humanitarian reasons after the sudden deterioration in the health of her father Nawaz Sharif.
Earlier, the NAB prosecutor opposed Maryam's request for bail on humanitarian grounds and said, it has been established by Supreme Court's verdicts that a suspect can only be granted bail in extraordinary circumstances and Maryam's case does not qualify as an extraordinary one, he added. "The jail superintendent had allowed Maryam Nawaz to meet her father according to her wishes", the prosecutor said.
He argued that various inquiries are under proceedings against the Maryam including the case related to the judge's blackmailing scandal, Flagship and Al-Azizia references and chairman NAB had issued arrest warrant against Maryam over her role in running fake accounts of CSM, he added. The prosecutor said that Maryam had played an "important role in money laundering" and added that a hefty amount of money was transferred from accounts opened by CSM to the petitioner.
The prosecutor responding to a court query said that she is convicted in Avenfield reference and sentenced for seven-year imprisonment and added the sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The court was informed that Maryam had not been able to give satisfactory answers to NAB's inquiries regarding her shares in CSM. She was also unable to explain how she attained the funds to establish Shamim Sugar Mills, the prosecutor contended.
He further said the PML-N vice president had not filed her tax returns for many years and was suspected of owning assets beyond known means. The prosecutor pleaded LHC to reject the petition and declare it non-maintainable. The court reserved its verdict after the prosecutor concluded his arguments and the same would be announced on November 04.
Maryam and her cousin Yousaf Abbas were arrested by NAB on August 8 in the case and later sent to jail on September 26 on judicial remand. PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz and Yousaf Abbas are being investigated in the reference filed by the accountability bureau over alleged money laundering through Chaudhry Sugar Mills investigation in the month of August. NAB alleged that she was involved in money laundering with the help of some foreigners during the period of 1992-93 when her father Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister.
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