Bailiff deployed to find Shahbaz’s family

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday, taking up a habeas corpus petition against the detention of the family of former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, deputed a bailiff to recover and produce them in court today (Tuesday).

Punjab Advocate General (AG) Shabbar Raza Rizvi said the detainees were not in government custody and the court could depute a bailiff on the request of the petitioner. The bench, headed by Justice Raja Muhammad Sabir, directed the AG to produce written reply on the habeas corpus petition filed and pleaded by advocate Ashtar Ausaf Ali.

Mr Ali asked that if the family, including Hamza Shahbaz, Salman Shahbaz, Javaria, Rabia and Nusrat Shahbaz were not detained, then why had the government deputed heavy contingents of police and besieged their residence.

While presenting his arguments, the AGP also produced clippings from newspapers and informed the court that the family of the former chief minister had entered Pakistan in April 2003 for a family function for a specific period, but they were still in Pakistan. He said the PML-N had politicised the whole issue to get political mileage for the party.

Mr Ali responded that it was the constitutional right of the family to be allowed to live in Pakistan and said it was the government, and not the PML-N, that was politicising the matter. He said it was a shame that the government had put the “citizens of the country and the daughters of the nation” under illegal confinement and was still harassing them. The counsel said that none of the people under detention had done or said anything illegal or objectionable. He said the Sharif’s had not struck any deal with the military government and it was their constitutional right to live in their homeland.

AGP Rizvi said it was unfortunate that politics was being done through the court while everyone knew why the Sharifs were outside the country and now they were exploiting the whole situation. The bench, after hearing both the parties, appointed a bailiff to recover the family from their residence at 178-H Model Town and produce them in court. —Staff Report

Sharif family holds Quran Khwani

LAHORE: The Sharif family held a Quran Khwani on Monday at the residence of Mian Siraj and prayed for the “alleviation of mis eries being faced by Nawaz Shairf and his family,” sources told Daily Times. The family sacrificed goats and distributed food and cash among people. The Sharif family invited friends and relatives, sources said. The participants prayed for forgiveness for the mistakes committed by the Sharif family and for Mian Sharif’s and Shahbaz’s health. —Staff Report

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