ETPB de-seals Sheikh Rashid’s Lal Haveli office

Move comes after contempt petitions moved against board

RAWALPINDI:

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) de-sealed Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid’s Lal Haveli residence, which also houses the party office, between the night of Monday and Tuesday.

The move comes after the AML chief moved a contempt petition against the ETPB for failing to de-seal the AML chief’s ancestral residence.

ETPB officials also apologised to his nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafique for the delay in de-sealing the residence. The ETPB officials broke the seals and opened the doors of the Lal Haveli political office to implement the LHC’s order to de-seal Lal Haveli.

After the authorities de-sealed Lal Haveli, LHC Rawalpindi Bench Judge Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf disposed of Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed's contempt petition.

However, civil litigation will continue in the civil court.

Sheikh Rasheed's sister Abida Shamim had filed the contempt petition in the high court.

Her counsel Sardar Abdul Raziq told the court that the D-156 property was also a part of Lal Haveli which houses the political office of Sheikh Rasheed.

The ETPB had sealed Lal Haveli and adjoining property on January 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2023.