By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad, Sep 28 (IANS) The Supreme Court of Pakistan Friday asked the government to explain why former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia on Sep 10 instead of being allowed to enter the country. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was among the respondents.
Sharif’s lawyer, Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, appearing before the court said that the government by sending his client to Saudi Arabia has committed contempt of court. He added that the government should be instructed to bring back Sharif to the country immediately.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in August ruled that Sharif could come back to Pakistan and instructed the federal and provincial governments to allow his smooth entry to the country.
The same bench has taken up the contempt of court petition filed by Sharif’s lawyer and issued notices to respondents and heads of PIA and Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority to explain how and in what conditions Sharif left the country.
Sharif’s elected government was overthrown in a military coup in 1999 and he was later exiled to Saudi Arabia.
Last year, Sharif moved from Saudi Arabia to London with his entire family. This August he filed an application in the Supreme Court to return to the country and received the apex court’s permission.
On Sep 10, he attempted to return by a state-run PIA flight but was bundled back to Saudi Arabia after a four-hour stay at Islamabad Airport. Now his attorney has filed a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court.
Sharif in his petition has named Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi and heads of security agencies as respondents. The court Friday issued notices to all the respondents and asked them to respond by Oct 17.
On Friday, at the outset of the hearing, the chief justice remarked that if Sharif had gone back on his own and his passport carried an exit stamp then his petition could not be admitted. To this Sharif’s lawyer said every Pakistani and international newspaper could be provided as evidence that Sharif was forced into exile.
Ibrahim also asked the court to complete the hearing of the case urgently as Sharif’s “role in present day politics is very important”. The chief justice said that he understood the importance of the case but the court had to fulfil all legal requirements.