LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday approached the Lahore High Court for return of an amount of Rs70 million deposited as a condition for her post-arrest bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

A full bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum would hear a civil miscellaneous application filed by the chief minister through Advocate Javed Arshad today (Thursday). Justice Jawad Zafar and Justice Abher Gul Khan are the other members of the bench.

The application stated that a case made against the petitioner by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been closed. It said the NAB had also withdrawn its application for the cancellation of bail of the chief minister in the same case.

The application asked the court to order the registrar judicial of the LHC to return the deposited amount.

Last week, a LHC division bench disposed of a NAB petition seeking cancellation of bail of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in the sugar mills case. A prosecutor informed the bench that the CM had been acquitted in the case, due to which the petition seeking cancellation of her bail stood infructuous.

Allowing the submissions of the NAB, the bench disposed of the petition being infructuous.

The LHC had on Nov 4, 2019 released CM Maryam in the sugar mills case on bail subject to surrendering her passport with the court. She was also ordered to deposit Rs70 million with the registrar judicial.

Later, a LHC full bench on Oct 3, 2022 returned the passport to the chief minister after the NAB said it did not require the travel document anymore.

A NAB team had arrested CM Maryam on Aug 8, 2019 when she was present at the Kot Lakhpat jail on her weekly visit to her incarcerated father Nawaz Sharif along with her daughter and cousin Yousaf Abbas, the son of late Abbas Sharif.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2026