- LHC admits petition filed on behalf of Sheikh Rashid.
- Rashid he didn’t get any notice from Evacuee Trust Property Board.
- DC says Rashid, his brother illegally occupied 7 units of haveli.
RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid on Monday approached the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench against the complete “sealing” of his Lal Haveli residence.
Earlier today, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) sealed seven units including two units of Lal Haveli and five adjoining units.
Advocate Sardar Raziq Khan, on behalf of the AML chief, while submitting the plea urged the court to hold an urgent hearing which was accepted. The hearing will take place at 11am today.
Meanwhile, AML’s workers have reached the residential property and are chanting slogans against the ETPB officials. The former interior minister will reach the haveli shortly.
The famous Lal Haveli, an old building at Bohar Bazaar, is the political office of the AML leader — who insisted he did not get any notice from the ETPB.
“I was not present at the Haveli, I was in Islamabad,” said the former federal minister while speaking to Geo News.
“They [the government] wanted to arrest me at night. They have now resorted to hooliganism.”
“Hang us publicly and disqualify us, if it is proved that we don’t own this property,” the former minister challenged the authorities concerned and added, this was his property.
ETPB Deputy Commissioner Asif Khan reached the property last night with a heavy contingent of police and sealed two units of the famous Lal Haveli in Rawalpindi. The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) team was also present at the spot.
The ETPB wrote to the deputy commissioner, the city police officer (CPO) and FIA’s director for their support.
The superintendent of police (SP), FIA’s director and the assistant commissioner were also a part of the operation.
According to the deputy commissioner, Rashid and his brother Sheikh Siddique illegally occupied the seven land units of the haveli.
DC Khan said they sent several notices to the AML chief and his brother before sealing the property.
“Sheikh Rashid and his brother failed to provide any authentic document or record,” he said. The court had also dismissed Rashid’s injunction request, Rashid continued.
The ETPB sealed a total of seven units including two units of Lal Haveli and five adjoining units.
PTI condemns ‘illegal terrorism’
Condemning the “illegal terrorism”, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secretary General Asad Umar assured Rashid of full support.
“In order to pressurise Rashid, the government hatched a plan to attack Lal Haveli and vandalise Rashid’s residence by using state’s machinery,” he wrote on Twitter.
On October 18 last year, a district and sessions court in Rawalpindi issued a stay order to the ETPB, directing it to temporarily stop the eviction of the structure after Rashid challenged a notice asking him to vacate his residence.
The board also issued directives to the AML chief and his brother to vacate the residence within seven days. However, the former minister challenged the notice in court.
