Another two-judge Lahore High Court bench that was formed to hear PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz’s passport petition has been dissolved.
The two-judge bench, led by Justice Ali Baqir Najfi and comprised of Justice Farooq Haider, was dissolved on Tuesday when Justice Haider recused himself from hearing the case.
The bench was scheduled to hear Maryam Nawaz’s petition today regarding the retrieval of her passport so that she could perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia.
Maryam Nawaz was represented in court by Ahsan Bhoon Advocate.
When Justice Haider recused himself from the hearing, the bench was unable to hear the case.
Previously, on April 21, a two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court led by Justice Najfi was unable to hear Maryam’s case because the bench was dissolved after Justice Anwaarul Haq Pannu recused himself from hearing the case.
Maryam Nawaz has requested permission from the Lahore High Court to perform Umrah.
In her petition, Maryam Nawaz stated that she had surrendered her passport to the LHC, adding, “I want to go to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah but cannot because my passport is surrendered at the LHC.”
She pleaded with the court to let her go to Umrah once and to issue orders temporarily returning her passport.
It is worth noting that the LHC ordered Maryam Nawaz to surrender her passport when it granted her bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
Maryam Nawaz, who was arrested on August 8 in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case, was granted bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in November 2019.
The verdict was announced by a two-member high court bench comprised of Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem.
To secure her release, the PML-N leader was ordered to provide two surety bonds worth Rs10 million each, as well as a deposit of an additional Rs70 million, and surrender her passport.
