ISLAMABAD, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme Court of Pakistan Tuesday
adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging the deportation of exiled former
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif till Nov.8.
A seven-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief JusticeIftikhar
Muhammad Chaudhry heard the petition of Nawaz Sharif and his party, the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), asking the court to initiate contempt of court
proceedings against the government for violating the court order granting Sharif
family the right to return and stay in Pakistan.
The Supreme Court decided to adjourn the hearing on the request of the
Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum, the News Network International (NNI)
news agency reported.
Malik Qayyum said that there was clear cut violation of the Supreme Court
orders and allegations were very serious, therefore he needed some time to
discuss the issue at the highest level.
Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz personally called him on Sept. 6 to arrange a VVIP
plane for Jeddah with a double crew.
Chairman Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Zafar A Khan also submitted
a statement saying that Additional Foreign Secretary and Chief of Protocol
Muhammad Nazir asked him to arrange a VVIP flight PK 7095 that took Nawaz Sharif
into exile again.
The bench observed that the statements given by the Foreign Secretary,
Chief of Protocol and Chairman PIA apparently proved that the Prime Minister had
violated the orders of the Court.
The counsel for Aziz, Wasim Sajjad requested the court that the prime
minister might be allowed to submit his detailed reply to explain his position
in light of statements made before the court.
Sharif returned to Pakistan and stayed for several hours before he was
deported again at the Islamabad airport on Sept. 10. The Supreme Court ruled on
Aug. 23 that Sharif and his family members were allowed to come back to
Pakistan.
