By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s Supreme Court Wednesday asked all concerned departments to submit written replies within three days on why former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sent to Jeddah despite a court ruling that he be allowed to enter the country.
The seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the heads of Emigration Department, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to submit their written replies with three days and appear before the court Oct 30 when it will resume hearing the case.
“I am not satisfied with the government version that he himself opted to go back,” the chief justice said. “I want written replies who has sent him back… I know TV channels have clippings of what happened on Sep 10 and we can play them in the court.”
The court had earlier issued notices to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao and heads of three departments. However, in Wednesday’s hearing it exempted the three ministers.
The court is hearing a petition filed by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – that he was bundled back to Saudi Arabia by the government when he attempted to stage a comeback Sep 10.
The court in August had ruled that Sharif who lives in exile in Saudi Arabia and London be allowed to return to the country. But the government, fearing disruption in the Oct 6 presidential poll that was won by President Pervez Musharraf with a huge margin, sent him back to Saudi Arabia.
Sharif’s government was toppled by Musharraf in October 1999. Fourteen months later, he was sent to Saudi Arabia under an agreement with the military regime. The government says that under it he was to stay away from Pakistan and politics for 10 years, but Sharif contradicts this. He says the agreement was for five years.
Now, his party officials say he would be flying soon to London and would once again try to return to Pakistan before Oct 30.