Lahore (September 10, 2018): Lahore High Court on Monday issued arrest warrants of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for failing to appear before the court in the contempt case.
ٓAccording to the details, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued bailable arrest warrants for ex-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in a case seeking action against him for allegedly not honouring his oath of office by disclosing the minutes of a National Security Council (NSC) meeting to party leader Nawaz Sharif.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) while issuing the arrest warrants for the former prime minister ordered to arrest him.
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The case, which was filed by civil society member Amina Malik through Advocate Azhar Siddique, had sought action against Abbasi and Sharif for trying to defame state institutions.
The petitioner had contended that after an NSC meeting held to discuss Sharif’s “misleading” statement, Abbasi had met the ousted premier and conveyed to him the concerns of the military leadership, adding that this act had been a violation of Abbasi’s oath as PM as he was not bound to allow his personal interest to influence his official conduct.
The petitioner had pleaded that Sharif had committed sedition by rejecting the NSC statement and was liable for action as per the Constitution and the Pakistan Penal Code, and also sought action against Abbasi for violation of oath through his disclosure of the minutes of the NSC meeting to Sharif.The court had earlier issued notices to Abbasi, Sharif and Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida during a hearing of the case in June, and, on Abbasi’s request, had deferred hearing the case till Sept 10 (today).
Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, who was heading the bench, asked why Abbasi had not appeared in court today.
Subsequently, the bench ordered that bailable arrest warrants be issued to Abbasi and ordered him to pay Rs1 million in surety bonds.
Additionally, the court ordered that notices be issued to Sharif via the Adiala Jail superintendent, and to Almeida via the senior superintendent police Islamabad.
The LHC Judge Saddaqt Ali Khan had referred the case to LHC larger bench for further hearing.
Earlier on June 26, full bench of the Lahore High Court issued notices to Abbasi and Nawaz.
The action was sought against Nawaz for trying to defame state institutions while Abbasi is being tried for disclosing minutes of the National Security Council’s meeting to Nawaz.
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