The Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted interim bail to PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz moved on Wednesday. A two-member bench, headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, took up the petition today.
Lahore High Court grants interim bail to Maryam Nawaz till April 12
— Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) March 24, 2021
Maryam states in her petition that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned her in two cases on March 26 (Friday). “The bureau being under the influence of the government wants to arrest me,” she claimed.
She said she wants to join the bureau’s investigation against her but feared that she would be arrested. The PML-N leader, therefore, pleaded with the high court to grant her interim pre-arrest bail.
The NAB has summoned Maryam for questioning in connection with its ongoing investigations into Raiwind land allotment and the Chaudhry Sugar Mills cases.
According to the corruption watchdog, the Sharif family members allegedly illegally acquired 3,500 kanals of land in Raiwind in collusion with the district administration and revenue officials in 2013.
In 2015, then Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheema and the Lahore deputy commissioner altered the master plan, declaring hundreds of kanals of land green-land area, the NAB said.
Case against Maryam Nawaz: Background and facts
The NAB has also summoned former DC Lahore Noorul Amin Mengal in this regard. This case is against former PM Nawaz Sharif, his mother Shamim Begum, Maryam Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif.
The NAB Lahore has asked Maryam to appear before the investigators on August 11 along with details of land acquired by her in Raiwind and Jati Umra. She has been asked to provide sources of funds from which the land was purchased. The NAB has asked Maryam to come with details if she has sold any piece of land along with details about the use of land whether it is being used for agriculture or any commercial activity. As per sources, this investigation is about 3,568 Kanals acquired by the Sharif family in 2013. The NAB will also investigate the former PM along with his mother Shamim Begum after they return to the country from the UK.
Maryam is accused of acquiring 180 Acres (1,440 Kanals) of what was allegedly supposed to be government land in Raiwind. The land transfer was done during DC Amin Mengal and former DG LDA Ahad Cheema’s tenure.
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A piece of land measuring over 3,568 Kanals was bought by the Sharif family in 2013. The largest part of the property, 1,936 Kanals, was transferred in the name of Nawaz’s mother Shamim Bibi. The land that was transferred to Maryam was 1,440 Kanals. A 96-Kanal plot each was also transferred to Nawaz and Shahbaz. The sources claimed most of the land was government land which the Sharif family illegally got transferred in their name at cheap rates. Moreover, only the LDA had the authority to deal with such matters but the Sharif family involved local government officials. The property was declared as green land to stop construction around the Sharif family’s Jati Umra mansions.