The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday sought a reply from the Lahore capital city police officer on a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Rana Mashhood and others seeking quashment of a case registered against them on the charges of creating ruckus during the election of Punjab Assembly (PA) speaker on July 29.
The single bench comprising Justice Muhammad Tariq Nadeem heard the petition.
The petitioners’ counsel argued before the court that police had registered the case with mala fide intentions and his clients were nominated on political grounds. He submitted that all allegations leveled against his clients were baseless and pleaded with the court to quash the case.
The court, after hearing the initial arguments, issued notices to the police authorities and sought reply.
Qilla Gujar Singh police had registered the case on a complaint of MPA Nawabzada Waseem Khan Badozai’s against PML-N MPAs – Rana Mashhood, Mirza Javed, Rukhsana Kausar, Saif ul Mulook Khokhar and Mian Abdul Rauf -. It was alleged that the accused hampered the election process for the slot of the PA speaker on July 29.
The MPAs had already obtained bail from a sessions court in the matter.
Separately, an anti-terrorism court on Thursday acquitted over a dozen activists of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in a case registered under terrorism charges.
ATC Judge Ijaz Ahmad Buttar announced the decision while ruling that the prosecution failed to prove charges against the activists.
Farooqabad police had registered the case against 14 TLP workers in 2021. They were accused of damaging state properties.
Meanwhile, an accountability court on Thursday returned the Chiniot mines and minerals reference to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over lack of jurisdiction.
The court directed the bureau to take up the matter with the relevant forum for further action.
The court ruled that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction as per the amended National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
Accountability Court Judge Zubair Shahzad Kiyani passed the orders while deciding applications filed by the accused, including Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan, for acquittal on the basis of the amendments to the NAB laws.
Besides Sibtain Khan, Salman Ghani, Muhammad Aslam, Abdul Sattar Mian and Imtiaz Ahmad Cheema had been named as the accused in the reference filed by the bureau.
The bureau had alleged that Sibtain Khan exceeded his powers and awarded a multi-billion contract to a firm of his choice during 2007 when he was minister for mines and minerals in the PML-Q government. The bureau stated that the company, which was given the contract, had a paid-up capital of Rs2.5 million only and also lacked experience required for the project.
