She had surrendered her passport in 2019 so she could be granted bail. Now she said she wanted it back so she could travel to Umrah. But the PML-N leader withdrew her plea as the hearing started on Wednesday.

A day earlier, the Lahore High Court had formed a fourth bench including Justice Ali Baqir Najfi and Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem to hear Maryam’s request.

As hearing of the case started on Wednesday, Maryam’s lawyer Advocate Amjad Pervaiz told the court that they were taking back the petition.

On Tuesday, two judges, Justice Asjad Javaid Ghural and Justice Farooq Haider, on two separate LHC benches which was headed by Justice Najafi, recused themselves from hearing Maryam’s petition.

In an earlier hearing on Monday, Supreme Court Bar Association President Advocate Ahsan Bhoon who was representing Maryam in the absence of Advocate Pervaiz argued before the court that the petitioner wanted to travel to Saudi Arabia on April 27 to perform Umrah. However, the PML-N leader could not travel as she had surrendered her passport.

The court then ordered the NAB lawyer to appear to clarify the accountability bureau’s position. The LHC bench asked for an updated exit control list, which names people who are not permitted to leave Pakistan.

Newly appointed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah recently made an announcement that the rules were being changed to put names on the ECL. Maryam’s name was among those of 100 other leaders of major political parties which were removed from the exit control list.

In November 2019, Maryam surrendered her passport on the orders of the LHC’s bench headed by Justice Najafi to prove bona fide as the National Accountability Bureau feared she could flee the country. The PML-N leader was then granted post-arrest bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

The initial bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun, recused itself from hearing Maryam’s plea on April 21. They observed that the petition should be heard by the same bench that had granted her bail.