Maryam Nawaz withdraws passport return plea

LAHORE: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday withdrew her plea filed in Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking the return of her passport so that she could travel abroad to perform Umrah, ARY News reported.

A special division bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem had taken up the petition earlier today.

During the hearing, Maryam’s counsel, Advocate Amjad Pervez, told the LHC that the PML-N leader wished to withdraw her plea.

Maryam’s withdrawal comes after four benches were formed to hear the petition due to judges recusing themselves one after the other.

Last week, a bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Farooq Haider was hearing the petition when the former remarked that his colleague was not willing to hear the case due to unknown reasons.

Also Read: LHC seeks NAB’s reply on Maryam Nawaz’s plea to perform Umrah

The matter was then sent to Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti to place it before another bench. Later, another bench was constituted under the stewardship of Justice Najafi and comprising Justice Asjad Javed Ghural as a member.

Shortly after the proceedings started, Justice Najafi said that Justice Ghural was not willing to proceed ahead with the case. The matter was once again sent to the LHC chief justice with a request to constitute a new bench.

Before that, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Shehbaz Rizvi had refused to hear the case on April 21.

It is worth mentioning here that former premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter had submitted her passport in the court after it approved her bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.