Maryam involved in anti-state propaganda, says NAB

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for cancellation of post-arrest bail granted to PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

A two-judge bench had released Ms Nawaz on Nov 4, 2019 on bail with a direction to surrender her passport to the registrar office of the court to show her bona fide since the NAB had feared she could flee the country.

The NAB in its petition argues Ms Nawaz has been flouting and misusing the concession of bail by continuously attacking the state institutions through political speeches and social media. It states the respondent is involved in anti-state propaganda supporting the nefarious designs of the enemies of Pakistan.

“The respondent has chosen a path of attacking the state institutions and tried to cause friction in the rank and file of armed forces and is also inciting the general public against them by publicly attacking them and the heads of other institutions,” says the bureau.

The NAB argues that the conduct of the respondent attracts specific grounds to seek cancellation of post arrest bail.

The NAB issued another call-up notice to the respondent for Aug 11, 2020 but on the said date she deliberately hampered the proceedings by using her political workers and created a law and order situation. Her workers, the petitioner states, attacked the police team and tried to break the barriers placed outside the office of the NAB.

The police concerned took cognizance of the incident and a case was also registered against the perpetrators.

The NAB asks the court to withdraw the impugned order of the bail granted to the respondent as it is a settled principle of law that if an accused person misuses the concession of bail then by stretch of imagination the accused cannot be allowed to remain on bail.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Asjad Javed Ghural would take up the petition on Monday.