By By Our Correspondent
THE Lahore High Court has sought reply from the Interior secretary on a petition, challenging his affidavit, submitted in the court, which stated that a panel of US lawyers had already been paid to contest Dr Aafia’s case when the court had issued a restraining order.
On Tuesday, the petitioner, Barrister Iqbal Jaffree pleaded that a fake affidavit was filed on behalf of the Interior secretary before the court of Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry which was hearing a petition against the allocation of $2million (Rs170million) by Pakistani government for fighting case of Aafia through three lawyers in America.
The petitioner alleged that when the affidavit was submitted before the court, the secretary was not in the country which proved that the document was fake.
Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa directed Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat Malik to ensure the reply of the Interior secretary by October 13. Earlier, the LHC issued notices to the former Interior secretary, Foreign Affairs secretary and the legal advisor to Foreign Affairs department, directing them to submit their affidavits within two weeks before the court in alleged violation of the court orders regarding payment to the US lawyers in Dr Aafia’s case.
The court had issued the notices while hearing a petition, charging them of issuing cheques worth $2 million with back dates to three American lawyers the Pakistani government had hired for defending Dr Aafia Siddiqui in the US courts, in violation of the LHC order. The petitioner contended that the respondent had issued cheques with earlier dates to avoid the court proceedings against them.
He had already submitted a contempt petition, contending that the LHC on August 12, had restrained the federal government from releasing the money to the US lawyers for pleading the case of Dr Aafia in the US court.
The petitioner argued that the government, in sheer violation of the court orders, had released the hefty amount to the panel of three US lawyers.