Ownership: AAG to argue on Koh-i-Noor’s return

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) directed an additional attorney general (AAG) on Monday to argue on the maintainability of a petition requesting the court to bring Koh-i-Noor diamond back to the country from the United Kingdom (UK). Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan fixed March 3 for the arguments by the federal government on the petition. It had been  filed by Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffrey. Jaffrey submitted that Britain had snatched the diamond from Duleep Singh, the grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (the ruler of the Punjab). He said the queen had no right on the Koh-i-Noor which, he said, represented cultural heritage of the Punjab. He requested the court to direct the federal government to pursue the matter on the international fora and bring the diamond back to Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2016.