06 June 2004	Sunday	17 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

LAHORE, June 5: The Lahore High Court will hear on June 7 the objections raised by its registrar office to a writ petition against the deportation of former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif to adjudicate if the Pakistan Lawyers Forum has a locus standi to make plea against the decision.

The forum filed on May 31 a writ petition, claiming that the government had committed an offence of abduction.

The petition, filed through Advocate A K Dogar, requested the court to declare the federal government's act as unlawful and in contravention of several constitutional provisions, including those which guaranteed liberty to the people and ensured their fundamental rights.

The PLF also quoted a Supreme Court decision of May 8 that Mr Sharif had a constitutional right to return to his own country. However, the registrar office returned the petition with the objection that the PLF had no locus standi to protest over the issue.

Mr Dogar refiled the petition with the remarks that it was not the officer but a court of law to decide if the forum had a locus standi. He wrote to the office that it had passed a judicial order by raising the objection, which could only be adjudicated by court.

The counsel requested the office to fix the petition for hearing before a bench of the high court.

The registrar office referred the matter to the chief justice, who has sent the issue to Justice Sheikh Abdur Rashid to hear the plea as an objection petition.