LAHORE, April 7: Justice (retired) Malik Muhammad Qayyum who represented former Punjab chief minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and obtained permission for his client to come back to the country , says the judgment will also benefit other members of the Sharif family who had been exiled to Saudi Arabia in December 2000.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, he said Mian Shahbaz was now free to return home 'even tomorrow'. Similarly, he said, there was no restriction on the remaining members of the family to return to Pakistan.

The PML-N president called justice Qayyum from London immediately after the announcement of the verdict to ask him when he could return home in the light of the judgment. "Even tomorrow" replied the counsel.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told Dawn that Mian Shahbaz was free to come back and face cases against him. However, he said, details of the cases were with the Punjab government.

In his opinion, the petition of the former chief minister had been 'rejected' by the Supreme Court. Asked whether other members of the Sharif family could also be allowed to return, and face cases, if any, the minister said they had left the country under an agreement for a period of 10 years. To be able to leave the country, he said, the Sharifs had also got the government pressurized.

When it was pointed out that Mian Shahbaz Sharif also was covered by the same agreement, the minister said he had been allowed to leave Saudi Arabia for treatment and he had been living in London for long.

Justice Qayyum, when asked what else would Mian Shahbaz have to do before coming back to Pakistan, said: "Just take a flight". He said that after the top court's judgment the government could not deport the former chief minister if he returned to the country.

In reply to a question, he said he knew only of one case pending against Mian Shahbaz and that was of an alleged police encounter in Lahore. In that case, Mian Shahbaz has been declared an absconder.

However, the former chief minister denies that he had anything to do with the alleged encounter in which five people had been killed by police. Malik Qayyum said that the government had not referred to any other case pending against his client.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq told Dawn that senior leaders of the party would be meeting in Islamabad on Friday to set a date for a meeting of the central working committee to discuss the situation in the light of the Supreme Court judgment.

He said the committee would either set a date for the return of Mian Shahbaz or make some appropriate appeal in the light of the verdict. He said the committee would also discuss what course of action the Jeddah-based members of the Sharif family should follow. Meanwhile, the PML-N leaders celebrated the victory of their leader by distributing sweets in various parts of the city.