LAHORE: A constitutional petition seeking to restrain ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif from presiding over the meetings of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was filed in the Lahore High Court on Saturday, ARY News reported.
Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) Ishtiaq Ansari petitioned the high court, submitting that the Supreme Court through a judgment dated July 28 disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding the office of prime minister for concealing his undrawn salary from a UAE-based company.
A political leader disqualified by a court could not chair party meetings, nor could he participate in meetings, the petitioner argued, adding that nevertheless Sharif was chairing the meeting of PML-N in violation of the election laws.
He pleaded with the court to restrain Sharif from chairing or partaking in PML-N’s party meetings.
Earlier, Mahmood Akhtar Naqvi, a civil rights campaigner, filed a petition in the apex court’s Lahore registry pleading with it to order the interior ministry to put the names of Sharif, his sons – Hussain and Hassan Nawaz – daughter Maryam Nawaz and his son-in-law retired Captain Muhammad Safdar on the ECL.
In his petition, Naqvi submitted that the apex court disqualified Sharif and ordered filing of corruption references against him and his children. In compliance with the court’s judgment, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is going to file four references against them, he added.
He contended that NAB chairman was empowered under the NAB Ordinance to order the arrest of a person facing corruption charges, but he was not doing so in the Sharif family case due to political reasons. He apprehended that the former prime minister and his children will flee the country to avoid their possible punishment on corruption charges.
Thus, he pleaded with the court to order the authorities concerned to place their names on the ECL.
