Can Maryam leave country?

Maryam Nawaz can legally leave the country if the Lahore High Court (LHC) allows her even if the federal government declines to remove her name from the Exit Control List (ECL). This was the consensus of lawyers in an anecdotal survey carried out by Business Recorder.

The federal government can move the apex court if it wants to challenge the LHC decision allowing her to proceed abroad, they added. In November last year, the LHC granted bail to Maryam Nawaz in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. In July 2018, the Accountability court hearing the Avenfield Apartments Corruption case handed her seven-year imprisonment after she was found "instrumental in concealment of the properties of her father" and one-year imprisonment for non-cooperation with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

However, in September 2018, the IHC suspended the Accountability Court's decision.

Speaking to Business Recorder, Raja Amir Abbas, former Additional Prosecutor General, NAB, said, the federal government turned down Maryam Nawaz's request to remove her name from the ECL keeping in view that NAB has serious apprehensions that she would not return like her father Mian Nawaz Sharif, uncle Shehbaz Sharif and former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

"Maryam Nawaz wants to go abroad to look after her father, who is also convicted and has been allowed to go abroad for a medical check-up after getting bail from the LHC. But the federal government is not willing to allow her to fly abroad. However, if she is given permission by the court, the government will have no option but to remove her name from the ECL. Still, the government can challenge this decision in the superior court," he said.

The IHC in October, 2019 had suspended the sentence of former premier Nawaz Sharif on medical grounds for eight weeks in the Al Azizia case. After getting bail, he proceeded to London for treatment. Nawaz has also procured bail on medical grounds in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case from the LHC.

The IHC further announced that for an extension in bail, the Punjab government should be approached.

The Supreme Court in the General Pervez Musharraf (retd) case, to remove his name from ECL, has already ruled that it is the federal government's prerogative to exclude (or not) his name from ECL.

Dr Abdul Basit, a senior lawyer, told Business Recorder that court can grant bail to Maryam Nawaz on any related pretext. "The bail means that her judicial custody is given to surety. If the government has declined her request to remove her name from ECL then the court has the power to suspend the order restraining her from going abroad. The suspension could be one time if not complete freedom," he said.