LHC issues notices to Nawaz, ministers 

LAHORE: Hearing a petition seeking contempt and treason proceedings against Nawaz Sharif and some leaders of his party, the Lahore High Court (LHC) questioned the maintainability of the plea and issued preadmission notices to former prime minister and others.

Ministers and members of parliament Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mushahidullah Khan, Daniyal Aziz, Abid Sher Ali, Talal Chaudhry, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Dr Asif Kirmani, Pervaiz Rashid, Maiza Hameed, Rana Sanaullah and Pemra Chairman Absar Alam are the other persons to whom notices were issued.

The court will decide on the next hearing (August 25) after going through the arguments that whether the petition is maintainable or not. It also summoned the federal government’s lawyer for assistance.

Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh asked the petitioner’s counsel as to how the former premier had committed treason in his recent speeches when his own party was ruling the country.

Azhar Siddique responded that Nawaz was no longer the PM or the head of the ruling PML-N. He added that the Pemra and the information minister were contacted several times to take notice of Nawaz’s remarks against the judiciary over his disqualification by the top court but they did not respond.

He sought time from the court to amend the petition filed by Civil Society Network President Amina Malik on August 12. At the start of the hearing, the judge directed the petitioner’s counsel to present arguments why the case should be heard by the court.