LAHORE: The non-submission of surety bonds with the trial court on Tuesday delayed release of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz despite the Lahore High Court grant of her post-arrest bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case the other day.

Ms Nawaz’s husband Muhammad Safdar and her legal team submitted her passport and Rs70m (guarantee money) before the deputy registrar judicial of the high court as required under the bail granting order. However, they failed to reach the accountability court in time to furnish surety bonds of Rs10m for a formal issuance of robkar (release order) of Ms Nawaz.

The office hours for federal courts including accountability courts are from 9am to 3pm. The legal team reached the court after 3pm when Presiding Judge Chaudhry Ameer Muhammad Khan had left for home.

The lawyers rushed back to the high court and requested the registrar to help contact the trial judge for the submission of the bonds.

An official said the registrar office made several attempts to establish a contact with the judge, however, found his mobile phone switched off. He said the judge might have gone to his native city Chakwal as the authority had already sanctioned his leave for the next two days.

However, a member of Ms Nawaz’s legal team said the surety bonds would be submitted before the duty judge on Wednesday (today).

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2019