ISLAMABAD: The special court of customs, excise and taxation on Tuesday granted a request from Ayyan Ali for the return of her passport, after the submission of surety bonds.

The court returned the passport on a conditional basis, and asked Ayyan to appear before the court when summoned.

Surety bonds of Rs3 million were submitted by Ayyan's counsel, along with an undertaking by Ayyan stating that she will not leave the country without the court's explicit permission.

The presiding judge of the customs court, Rana Aftab, accepted the surety bonds presented today and granted Ayyan's request.

Earlier, the court approved model Ayyan's application to return her passport which was confiscated upon her arrest in March in a currency-smuggling case.

Three passports had been confiscated from Ayyan upon her arrest.

Ayyan's passport is important documentary evidence in the currency smuggling case and it is possible that if her passport was returned, Ayyan would leave for a foreign country, a customs official had told Judge Rana Aftab Ahmed earlier.

However, Ayyan's counsel Khurram Latif Khosa told the court that the passport is Ayyan's "bread and butter" as she frequently travels abroad as part of her modelling contracts. The model serves as a cultural ambassador and serves Pakistan internationally, Khosa had stated.

Ayyan was apprehended while travelling with half a million US dollars. The amount was seized by customs when she was checking in for a flight to Dubai at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) on March 14 this year.

A Special Customs court formally charged her with attempted currency smuggling last week, almost nine months after she was arrested.