The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday rejected a petition requesting the court to bar the expected issuance of a diplomatic passport to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, saying that the petition “is based on unreliable material and is, therefore, frivolous”.
Advocate Naeem Haider Panjutha, filed a petition in the IHC on Thursday, referring to media reports that Nawaz was being issued a diplomatic passport. The petitioner claimed that the directions for the issuance of a diplomatic passport were given to the interior and foreign affairs secretaries.
The petitioner argued that as Nawaz was a court absconder who was convicted by the National Accountability Bureau Court for corruption, the move was “violative of law” and a mockery of the justice system.
In its order today, the court noted that the petitioner could not present any order, direction or notification that had been issued by the federal government to support his claim.
“It is noted that no evidentiary value is attached to the press reports and no reliance can be placed on it when a person claims a legal right on its basis. It is a settled law that courts do not decide cases on the basis of press reports,” the IHC chief justice observed.
The chief justice dismissed the petition and imposed a Rs5,000 fine on the petitioner for engaging counsels during the hearing at state expense.
