NAB Prosecutor States No Evidence of Corruption Against Senior PML-N Leaders
LAHORE: On Monday, an accountability court in Lahore approved the closure of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills investigation against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
The decision was delivered by Judge Rana Arif in response to a petition filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seeking to end the probe.
The NAB prosecutor argued that there was no evidence of corruption against Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.
After hearing the arguments, the accountability court granted final approval to close the Chaudhry Sugar Mills probe against the senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The money-laundering investigation into Chaudhry Sugar Mills began in January 2018 when the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) flagged billions of rupees in suspicious transactions under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. At that time, PML-N was in power.
Following the FMU report, NAB launched a formal inquiry in October 2018, which revealed that Nawaz, Maryam, Shahbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, and other family members were shareholders in the company, along with foreign investors from the UAE and the UK. The probe found that between 2001 and 2017, investments worth billions of rupees were made under the pretext of issuing shares to foreign partners. These shares were later repeatedly transferred back to Maryam, Hussain Nawaz, and Nawaz without payment to the original foreign shareholders.
Maryam had also been taken into NAB custody in August 2019 in connection with the case.
NAB Challenges LHC Verdict
In a separate development, NAB appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) against the Lahore High Court’s February 4, 2026, ruling regarding CM Maryam in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
NAB argued that the LHC had interfered with the chairman’s authority by making the inquiry closure conditional on judicial approval, asserting that the bureau had the legal power to withdraw proceedings before filing a reference. The bureau claimed the LHC misinterpreted Section 31B(1) of the NAB amendments and effectively amended the law by requiring judicial approval, which is not mandated under legislation. NAB also noted that the court acted without notifying the attorney general.
The bureau stated that the inquiry had been officially withdrawn on April 3, 2024, and Maryam later sought the return of her Rs70 million surety bonds.
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