RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Monday ordered the de-sealing of the Lal Haveli, as it set aside a decision of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to expel former interior minister Sheikh Rashid from his residence.

Mr Rashid, who had gone ‘missing’ for almost a month, appeared before the high court in connection with a plea challenging the ETPB order to seal the premises.

LHC Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf observed that the ETPB sealed the property without due process and the residents were condemned unheard. On January 30, 2023, a day after the ETPB claimed Lal Haveli’s ownership, the department sealed seven units of the building over “illegal occupation”. The same day, Mr Rashid approached the LHC accusing ETPB officials of “misusing their powers on the orders of political high-ups”.

In September, the Evacuee Trust Property Board sealed Lal Haveli – the political office and public secretariat of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed – after the board chairman cancelled the registry of the building.

Sheikh Rashid vows to contest polls against ‘PDM’, denounces May 9 events

“I hereby declare property no. D-156, D-157 and D-158 (units of Lal Haveli) situated in Bohr Bazar, Rawalpindi city, district Rawalpindi, as evacuee trust properties under the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Act, 1975,” the order by the chairman at the time had stated.

Lal Haveli is an old building in Bohar Bazaar. The Haveli was built over a hundred years ago by Dhan Raj Sehgal for Budhan Bai, a Muslim ‘dancing girl’ from Sialkot.

However, it was converted into a political hub in 1980 after Sheikh Rashid Ahmed entered parliamentary politics.

Speaking to the media alongside his lawyer Sardar Abdul Raziq, Mr Rashid once again condemned the May 9 violence. He said, “I have repeated this many times that May 9 was a cursed programme and those people who were involved in this episode were also cursed.”

He praised Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum and said that the “Pakistan Army is one of the greatest armies of the world and he always stood with them”.

“From Sep 17 to Oct 22, I was on a pilgrimage that made me a new Sheikh Rashid. I don’t know the cold place I was kept in,” Dawn.com quoted him as saying. According to the Awami Muslim League chief, he would contest the elections against the Pakistan Democratic Movement even if “he was arrested again”.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2023