The Lahore High Court has directed that Rs 70 million, deposited by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz as surety in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills Case, be returned after the National Accountability Bureau formally withdrew its proceedings in the matter.
A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, presided over the petition seeking the release of the deposited funds. During the hearing, NAB’s counsel presented an affidavit confirming the official withdrawal of constitutional proceedings. Following this submission, the court accepted Maryam Nawaz’s plea and ordered the Rs 70 million — which had been deposited with the high court as guarantee money — to be released.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Maryam Nawaz’s lawyer Javed Arshad confirmed that the court had accepted the petition. He further stated that Captain (r) Safdar Awan, husband of the Chief Minister, would receive the amount once the court issues its written order. The application was filed after NAB formally ended all proceedings against Maryam Nawaz in the case.
It is worth noting that the LHC had originally granted bail to Maryam Nawaz on November 4, 2019, in the sugar mills case. As part of the bail conditions, she was required to surrender her passport and deposit Rs 70 million with the court registrar. Her passport was later returned in October 2022 after NAB indicated it no longer needed the travel document.
Earlier, a division bench of the LHC also disposed of a NAB petition that sought cancellation of Maryam Nawaz’s bail, after a prosecutor informed the court that she had already been acquitted in the case, rendering the petition ineffective.
Maryam Nawaz was arrested by a NAB team on August 8, 2019, while she was visiting her father, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at Kot Lakhpat Jail. The Chaudhry Sugar Mills case was among the high-profile corruption references pursued by NAB during its anti-corruption campaign in that period.
