Sharif family moves court against Punjab govt

The children of the late Abbas Sharif, the youngest brother of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, have moved a civil court in Lahore seeking direction to quarters concerned to declare them as the owners in possession of the land mentioned in the suit and the legal heirs of the late Begum Shamim Akhtar.

Begum Shamim Akhtar, wife of Late Mian Muhammad Sharif and mother of the Sharif brothers, passed away in November last year. Abbas Sharif had passed away in January, 2013 of a cardiac arrest.

Yousaf Abbas Sharif, Abdul Aziz Abbas Sharif, Sara Abbas Sharif, Salma Abbas Sharif, all children of Abbas Sharif, contend that they and pro-forma defendants, Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, were the legal heirs and successors-in-interest of Begum Shamim Akhtar.

According to the suit, Begum Shamim Akhtar was the owner of land measuring 241-kanal and 10 marlas in the revenue estate of Manak, in Raiwind tehsil of the Lahore district.

It added that the plaintiffs and the pro-forma defendants, were also the joint owners of the property situated at Jati Umra, Raiwind, measuring 1,580 kanals.

They implored the court that their family members are being made subject of political victimisation and they were being trapped in false cases merely to humiliate them. They implored the court that they came to know through reliable sources that the defendants (Punjab officials) were out and out to manoeuvre the ownership record of the suit land at the behest of incumbent government. The court issued notices to the provincial government, seeking a reply by April 27.