SC summons Nawaz Sharif over govt land in Pakpattan allotment case

SC summons Nawaz Sharif over govt land in Pakpattan allotment case

Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a case pertaining to allotment of 1,800 kanal government’s land to an individual in Pakpattan some 33 years ago.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, as Punjab chief minister in 1985, had allegedly allotted about 1,800 kanal land of Auqaf around Pakpattan shrine to an individual in violation of the high court order.

Taking a suo moto notice last month, a three-judge bench headed by CJP Saqib Nisar sought reply from Sharif as he was the Punjab chief minister in 1985. The bench had maintained the then-CM had no right to transfer a shrine’s property to Dewan Ghulam Qutab.

The SC, while hearing a case of illegal construction of shops on Pakpattan shrine’s land, ordered the ex-PM to appear before the court on December 4.

The elder Sharif is already facing corruption cases since 2017 when he was ousted from the top office by Supreme Court.

In July this year, he was sentenced to ten years in prison by the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, in the Avenfield reference. However, the conviction was suspended by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court. Currently, he is on a bail.