Hearing a petition of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz for the return of her passport to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah, a Lahore High Court division bench on Monday directed the interior ministry to present the rules of the exit control list (ECL).

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Earlier, Advocate Ahsan Bhoon appeared on behalf of Ms Nawaz and argued before the bench that the petitioner wanted to perform Umrah in the last days of holy month of Ramadan.

A special prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), present in the court, told the bench that the name of the petitioner was placed on the ECL following her bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

He said a main petition of the petitioner against the ECL was still pending since 2021.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, who headed the bench, observed that the instant petition would be heard along with the main petition on Tuesday.

The bench directed an assistant attorney general to submit a reply on behalf of the interior ministry and also furnish the rules for placing someone on the ECL. The bench also directed the NAB prosecutor to submit a written reply to the petition.

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Ms Nawaz had surrendered her passport before the court when allowed post-arrest bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on Nov 4, 2019. However, the bench had ordered her to surrender passport to prove bona fide as the NAB feared she could flee the country.