CJP resolves Hamza-Ayesha episode

LAHORE: Hamza Shahbaz Sharif and Ayesha Ahad Malik — who claims to be his wife — have decided to withdraw all cases against each other after Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Monday arbitrated between the two in a bid to resolve their longstanding differences.

The announcement came after the Supreme Court urged the two to resolve the matter amicably, warning that it would otherwise have to form a joint investigation team to probe their allegations.

Ayesha had told the court that she could say on oath that she was married to Hamza who in turn also stated that he could say on oath that they had never contracted marriage. Hamza stated that there was no proof of a nikah (marriage agreement) between the two, while she claimed that she had witnesses who were present on the occasion.

During the hearing, the chief justice initially asked Hamza to exercise his right to divorce Ayesha if they had ever been married, but Hamza continued to deny that the marriage had taken place. "If proven that you were living together without marrying, it would be a major embarrassment," the chief justice warned him.

The chief justice mentioned he needed to arbitrate between them and warned that in the event that they couldn’t settle the dispute amicably, a joint investigation workforce comprising representatives of other provinces, together with ISI, will likely be constituted for a probe.

He remarked since they each hailed from Punjab’s influential households, the JIT would be outside of the province. Chief Justice Nisar subsequently summoned both Hamza and Ayesha to his chambers to discuss the matter after both remained unwilling to relent.

Following an hour-long discussion in the chamber, the chief justice announced that an agreement had been reached between the two. He ruled that the two would not indulge in passing any comments against each other on media and would not publicly discuss the conditions agreed upon in the discussion.

It all started in 2011, when Lahore's Defence-A Police arrested Ayesha and her daughter in a kidnapping case. A Filipino woman had accused Malik of kidnapping her son for ransom. A judge of an anti-terrorism court had allowed police 10-day physical remand of Malik, but the Lahore High Court had suspended the order while questioning the integrity of the trial judge.

The high court had subsequently ordered an inquiry against the judge for granting remand without applying any judicial reasoning. Later, Ayesha had filed a petition before a sessions court for the registration of a case against police officials for keeping her and her young daughter in illegal custody and also subjecting them to torture.

She had alleged that Hamza, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Ali Imran (son in-law of Shahbaz Sharif) and some police officers were behind the whole episode.

Malik had later contested the 2013 general election against Hamza from NA-119. She had also filed a civil suit to stop Hamza from contracting a marriage with Dr Rabia Khan. Malik had claimed that Hamza had not divorced her and she was still his wife.