October 18, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 5, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: Terming replies submitted by respondents in a contempt petition moved by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif inadequate, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Secretary Foreign Affairs to reply in three days who had reserved an aircraft for deporting Mr Sharif to Jeddah on Sept 10.

“The secretary and the chief of protocol in the foreign ministry are required to submit concise statements in three days explaining under whose command/order an aircraft for VVIP flight was reserved,” ordered Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, heading a seven-member bench hearing the petition.

“We are ready to go to any extent,” the chief justice said, adding: “Let the judgment of this court in the Nawaz Sharif case be implemented in letter and spirit.”

The order was read out in a courtroom packed with PML-N activists when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told the court through its counsel Kazi Anwar that the VVIP aircraft was initially sent to Quetta with a call sign of PK-363 but then it was designated PK-7095 when its course was changed towards Jeddah over Jiwani, a coastal town in Balochistan.

They are also required to inform the court about the flight’s original destination for which the aircraft was initially booked and who decided that the VVIP flight would operate from Islamabad to Jeddah. The order said that the reply should be substantiated with relevant documents.

All respondents, except Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Ellahi and Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, are required to appear in person before the court on the enxt date of hearing on Oct 30.

The court also noted that all respondents had absolved themselves of the responsibility of sending the former prime minister to Jeddah and asked Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum to identify people responsible for defying its earlier orders.

Pakistan International Airlines’ chairman Zafar A. Khan was directed to submit details about the crew and the aircraft’s flight manifest in addition to directions issued to them from time to time during the flight.

The court was of the view that sending Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah in such circumstances amounted to forcible deportation.

The court rejected DIG Rawalpindi police statement, declaring himself not to be involved in any wrongdoing in view of the police deployment inside the Rawal Lounge at the Islamabad Airport which was supervised by a police officer.

Home Secretary Punjab Khusro Pervez identified the supervising officer as SP Tahir Ayub, who was summoned by the court.

The DIG Rawalpindi police was ordered to submit the airport security plan for Sept 10 along with details of deployment inside and outside the airport.

Director-General of the Airport Security Force and the ASF’s shift in-charge on October 10, who were not a party in the petition, were also included as parties and directed to submit details of arrival and departure of the VVIP (Nawaz Sharif) from Islamabad to Jeddah.

Details are also being sought from officials who participated in facilitating Mr Sharif’s departure and if those officials belonged to the ASF. If not, the court demanded to know if they were issued entry passes or did they force their way inside the airport.

The reply of the director-general of the Federal Investigation Authority was also deemed unsatisfactory because it did not contain information about how Nawaz Sharif was allowed to leave Pakistan without fulfilling immigration requirements and why was a case not registered against him “for leaving Pakistan without any documents and who was responsible for all this and what is reason behind this”.

Prosecutor-General of the National Accountability Bureau Dr Danishwar told the court that NAB’s Lt-Col (retd) Afzal had read out warrants of arrest when the former prime minister had arrived but had not taken him into custody.

However, the court observed that once the warrants were read out, the person should be taken into custody.

The NAB was required to submit a reply if a case had been registered against officials who failed to arrest Mr Sharif and if not whether they were dealt with in accordance with the law.

Mr Pervez told the court that he had issued Mr Sharif’s detention orders as soon as he landed in Islamabad. He explained that he had issued the order after it was approved by the interior secretary and was later handed over to the provincial police officer of Punjab for execution.

The PPO Punjab was also directed to reply in three days.

Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, representing the petitioner, pleaded that the respondents’ replies were enough for him to prove a conspiracy to illegally deport his client and the PIA was directed to deploy dual crew aboard the VVIP flight, costing the authorities Rs8.17 million.