IHC rejects Nawaz Sharif’s petition to stop properties auction

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday rejected the petitions filed by former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif and others, seeking court directives for stopping the auction of their properties deeming them inadmissible, reported 24NewsHD TV channel

The two-member bench of the court, comprising Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Justice Amir Farooq, in a short decision said the applicants have the alternate platform and they can go to the trial court to stop the auction of the properties of the former prime minister.

The court said due to the availability of an alternate forum the high court can not hear the petitions according to Article 109 of the constitution.

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Earlier Qazi Misbah, counsel for the former prime minister, argued before the court that the purpose of auctioning proclaimed offender’s property was to force him to surrender. “But Nawaz Sharif will not surrender,” he said categorically.

Advocate Misbah said that an accountability court (AC) had ordered the confiscation and auction of his client’s properties.

When Justice Amir Farooq asked him why his clients did not raise objections to the AC order then, the latter replied that this could not be done since it was not in their knowledge.

Justice Farooq remarked that the former prime minister could have submitted the objections later.

Advocate Misbah said that even legal formalities were not fulfilled for the auction of Nawaz Sharif’s properties.

Shehbaz Sharif’s petition

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday sought replies from the federal government as well as other respondents, nominated in the petition of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, in which he had challenged the government’s decision not to allow him to travel abroad despite LHC orders, on May 26, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

During the hearing, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi inquired from the counsels representing PML-N president namely Amjad Pervez Advocate and Azam Nazir Tarar whether their client’s petition was admissible for hearing particularly when the LHC interim order had been challenged in the Supreme Court, and how could the court order be implemented now when Shehbaz Sharif’s name had been put on the Exit Control List (ECL)?

Advocate Tarar asked the court to seek reply from the government so that the situation could become clear.

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Justice Najafi then turned to the lawyer representing the government and asked him to update the court on the status of PML-N president; whether his name had been put on the ECL.

Deputy attorney general replied that Shehbaz was not only the leader of one of Pakistan’s major political parties but he was also leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.

The counsel for the government replied that the court order had been implemented. “PML-N president has not submitted to the concerned officials the copy of the court order,” the deputy attorney general said, and added that leader of the opposition in the NA headed straight to the Lahore airport and handed the airport staff copy of the LHC order. “The airport staff informed him that his name was not on the blacklist while the court order was related to the blacklist,” he elaborated.

Reporters Ihtesham Kiani and Malik Ashraf