LHC seeks NAB response on Maryam Nawaz's Rs70 Million refund plea

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), seeking its response to a petition filed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz requesting the refund of Rs70 million deposited as a guarantee in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

A three-member full bench, headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum and comprising Justice Jawad Zafar and Justice Abhar Gul Khan, heard the petition.

During proceedings, NAB’s counsel informed the court that the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case had already been closed by the bureau, describing it as baseless. Chief Justice Neelum asked whether the closure had been formally approved by the relevant trial court. NAB’s lawyer replied that trial court approval was not required under the law.

The Chief Justice observed, however, that despite NAB’s closure of the case, final approval from the trial court remained necessary. The court directed NAB to submit a detailed reply by February 4.

Maryam Nawaz, through her legal team, contended that since NAB had terminated the case and declared it unfounded, the Rs70 million guarantee deposited in the matter should be returned.

The case originated in January 2018 when NAB received information regarding a large suspicious transaction at Chaudhry Sugar Mills under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The inquiry, launched in 2018, revealed that Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Shahbaz Sharif, and other family members of the late Abbas Sharif were shareholders in the company, alongside some foreign nationals from the UAE and the UK.

Investigations indicated that from 2001 to 2017, substantial investments were made in Chaudhry Sugar Mills in the names of foreign shareholders, with millions of shares issued to them.

These shares were allegedly later transferred back to members of the Sharif family, including Maryam Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, and Nawaz Sharif, without any consideration. NAB concluded that foreign names had been used as proxies to facilitate major investments, as the Sharif family lacked sufficient declared funds for such investments.