Sheikh Rashid seeks stay on possible action against Lal Haveli

Former interior minister and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench given the possible threat of a large-scale operation at his Lal Haveli in the current week.

The petition, filed by the former home minister’s brother Sheikh Siddique, will be heard by a senior judge on Wednesday [today].

The filing of the petition comes in the wake of the police raid at the Lahore and Gujrat residences of former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central President Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

Petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Sardar Abdul Raziq, has adopted the stance that Lal Haveli is his client's property and it was registered in his name in 1987. “The FIA, ​​ police and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) sealed the Lal Haveli in a joint operation two months ago, which was de-sealed on the orders of the Lahore High Court and the case was still pending,” he maintained.

“Now federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has ordered the caretaker Punjab chief minister to conduct an operation to forcibly evacuate Lal Haveli,” he claimed and added: “In order to implement these orders, work is going on in the office of the ETPB director in Lahore and this operation will be carried out this week during which there may be a risk of deaths.” The petitioner’s counsel prayed to the court to issue stay orders against the joint action by the FIA, police and ETPB.

Rashid’s counsel has also enclosed the title documents of Lal Haveli along with the petition. “Sheikh Rashid Ahmad is a political figure and is currently a political ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan. This move is aimed at forcing him to change his political loyalty,” the petition claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2023.