The Hindu : International : Sharif moves apex court for return to Pakistan

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Friday, Aug 03, 2007
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Sharif moves apex court for return to Pakistan

Nirupama Subramanian

Ex-Premier denies exile deal with Government

ISLAMABAD: The former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), Nawaz Sharif, set the stage for a high-voltage legal and political battle with President Pervez Musharraf with a petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to ensure his return home from exile and his participation in the coming election.

Lawyer Fakhruddin Ebrahim filed two identical petitions in the court, one in the name of Mr. Sharif, and another on behalf of his brother Shahbaz, asking the court to declare that both have the “inalienable, unqualified fundamental right to remain in Pakistan and participate in and contest the forthcoming elections”.

The petitions also asked the court to “order that the [Government] may not directly or indirectly obstruct, hamper or resist” the return of the Sharif brothers.

The Sharif family left Pakistan for Saudi Arabia in December 2004, a year after Mr. Sharif’s ouster by Gen. Musharraf in a coup. The departure was said to have been worked out by the house of Saud and Gen. Musharraf, with Mr. Sharif accepting its terms.

Test of the right

The last time the brothers moved the court to return to Pakistan was in 2003.

But the court rejected the plea on the ground that it was based only on an assumption that the Government would violate the right of a citizen to enter and move freely.

When Shahbaz Sharif tried to test this right in May 2004, he was deported back to Saudi Arabia on arrival in Lahore.

PML (N) leaders said this time, they expected a more proactive response from the Supreme Court.

“After the historic judgment of July 20 [when the Supreme Court restored its Chief Justice], we feel the court have found the freedom to take decisions without acting under the pressure of the Government,” said the party’s information secretary, Ahsan Iqbal. The petition argues the fundamental right of a citizen to remain in Pakistan is absolute.

Article 17 guarantees the right to every citizen to freely participate in the affairs and governance of Pakistan, including the right to participate in and contest elections.

The petition also denied that there was a “deal” with the Government under which the Sharif family was sent into exile.

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