Lal Haveli case: Court nullifies eviction order for Sheikh Rasheed’s residence

RAWALPINDI: The additional district and sessions judge has announced the verdict in a case related to the eviction order for Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rasheed’s Lal Haveli residence, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The additional district and sessions judge accepted Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and his brother Sheikh Sadeeq Ahmed’s plea challenging the eviction order of the civil judge for his Lal Haveli residence.

The Rawalpindi court nullified the civil judge’s verdict and approved the plea of Sheikh Rasheed.

The judge referred the case to the civil court for conducting the hearing again.

READ: RAWALPINDI COURT RESERVES VERDICT AGAINST LAL HAVELI’S EVACUATION ORDERS

Abdul Razzaq Khan Advocate appeared before the district and sessions court to represent the AML chief and his brother. He apprised the court that Lal Haveli is the personal property of Rasheed’s brother Sheikh Sadeeq and it has no connection with the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and Auqaf department.

The lawyer said it was a conspiracy of the incumbent government to snatch Lal Haveli on the basis of a few rooms adjacent to the building. The incumbent government was taking revengeful steps against Rasheed, he added. The civil judge dismissed the case without fulfilling the legal requirements, said Abdul Razzaq Khan.

The court then approved Rasheed’s appeal against the verdict and nullified the eviction order for the Lal Haveli building. The case was referred to the civil judge for conducting its hearing again.

READ: SHEIKH RASHEED CHALLENGES LAL HAVELI’S EVACUATION ORDERS

Earlier in the month, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) ordered Awami Muslim League (AML) chief, Sheikh Rasheed, to vacate Lal Haveli within seven days.

The ETPB in its verdict said Sheikh Rasheed and his brother have ‘illegally’ occupied seven properties including Lal Haveli. Both the APML chief and his brother failed to present relevant documents about the property despite several chances.

Lal Haveli belonged to a Hindu woman prior to partition and was converted into Sheikh Rasheed’s political office in 1980 after he entered parliamentary politics.

This is not the first time Rasheed receives ETPB’s notice as he had claimed to receive an eviction notice in October 2016.

The board’s regional administrator had claimed that Rasheed was served a notice for an occupied land adjacent to the building being used by the AML chief.