LAHORE, July 1: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition for the recovery of wife and children of PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif due to the petitioner’s failure to pay the bailiff fee.

Justice Raja Mohammad Sabir had deputed a bailiff the other day to recover Nusrat Shahbaz and her children Hamza Shahbaz, Salman Shahbaz, Rabia Shahbaz, Javeria Shahbaz from 178-H, Model Town.

However, the petitioner, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, counsel for the Sharif family, did not turn up by 10am — the deadline set by the court for the purpose. The proceedings had been adjourned for half an hour to wait for his appearance. At the resumption of proceedings, the petition for habeas corpus was dismissed as not pursued.

“The failure to deposit the bailiff fee appears to be intentional while the petitioner has not appeared in the court to explain the reasons in this regard. The petition is dismissed for non-prosecution,” the court ordered on Punjab Advocate General Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi’s plea for dismissal of the petition. The AG had also read out an excerpt from a news item that quoted the Sharif family counsel as saying that he did not deposit the fee as house arrest of the Sharifs was over.

Just before the pronouncement of dismissal orders, Advocate Rana Mashood informed the court that during the half-hour recess he had not been able to contact Mr Ashtar, according to whose family he had already left for the court. He apprehended that the counsel might have been picked by intelligence agencies. “But I have been informed that he appeared in some other court this morning,” the judge said.

Within 10 minutes of the dismissal of petition, Mr Ashtar appeared in the court, claiming that he had been informed that his petitions would be taken up at 10am. He expressed surprise at the dismissal of petition and submitted that he would explain in detail the reasons for his failure to submit the bailiff fee. However, the court refused to hear him ruling that it had already given him a chance to appear and dismissed the petition on his failure to do so.

The petitioner then requested that the dismissal order be amended to enable him to file the petition afresh. “I have dictated the order after the lapse of the timeframe I gave for your appearance in the court, and you cannot claim any amendment to that order now,” Justice Sabir said.

Earlier, at the start of proceedings at 9:20am, the court staff informed the judge that the bailiff fee had not been deposited by the petitioner, who was not present in the court. Rana Mashood informed the court that the Sharif family counsel had not turned up for some unknown reasons, which only he could disclose.

He and MPA Sabah Sadiq requested the court to allow them to deposit the fee as they did not want the five family members to suffer on this account, and sought adjournment for allowing the counsel to turn up. Lahore High Court Bar Association president Hafiz Abdul Rehman Ansari also joined the proceedings and requested the court to give a chance to the petitioner to appear after which the proceedings were put off for half an hour.

After the conclusion of proceedings, PML-N women led by Ms Sadiq and Lahore women’s wing president Ayesha Javed raised slogans against Gen Musharraf on LHC premises while some of the workers also displayed posters of Shahbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif before dispersing.

After the dismissal of petition, Mr Ashtar told reporters that his petition for restraining the federal government from deporting Mr Shahbaz’s family had also been dismissed along with that for their recovery. “I would file these petitions afresh after seeking instructions from my clients,” he maintained, adding that he did not deposit the fee as the siege of Model Town bungalow had been lifted.

LHC RESOLUTION: The Lahore High Court Bar Associ-ation adopted a resolution on Tuesday against the government’s attempts to deport five members of PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif’s family, and demanded the government that it should recall its deportation orders.