LHC to announce verdict on Maryam Nawaz's bail plea today.

LAHORE -- The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday reserved its judgment on bail plea of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case after the petitioner and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) concluded their arguments. The verdict will be announced today (Friday).

The PML-N vice president had approached the high court on September 30 seeking post-arrest bail in the case, which is being investigated by NAB. Following the sudden deterioration in the health of her father, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, she then filed a miscellaneous petition on October 24 seeking immediate bail on the basis of fundamental rights and humanitarian reasons.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem heard the petitions on Thursday. During the proceedings, NAB's Additional Prosecutor Jahanzaib Bharwana opposed Maryam's request for bail on humanitarian grounds and said: "It has been established by Supreme Court's verdicts that a suspect can only be granted bail in extraordinary circumstances. "Maryam Nawaz's case does not qualify as an extraordinary one."

"The jail superintendent had allowed Maryam Nawaz to meet her father," Bharwana argued.

In a previous hearing of the appeal, the court had asked Maryam's counsel if she had been granted permission to meet her ailing father Nawaz Sharif, to which her lawyer, Azam Nazir Tarar, responded in the affirmative.

The former premier was rushed to Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) last week after his personal physician raised alarm about his deteriorating health. He is currently admitted at the hospital.

During Thursday's hearing, NAB's lawyer said that Maryam had...