LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday expressed displeasure at the non-compliance of its orders in a case concerning the seizure of the passport of a former accounts officer posted at the Pakistani Embassy in France and summoned an affidavit from the director general Europe desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

At the outset of the hearing, Assistant Attorney General Shakeel Pasha appeared before the court and stated that the petitioner had not submitted his passport to MoFA.

Advocate Safdar Shaheen Pirzada, the petitioner’s counsel, alleged that his client was being pressured by the ministry to withdraw the petition.

Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi directed the law officer to submit an affidavit of the director general Europe desk along with a detailed report on May 29.

“Why shouldn’t affidavits be sought from the foreign secretary and the defence secretary as well?” the judge questioned, maintaining that no one would be allowed to make a mockery of the court.

The petitioner, Muhammad Naveed, was the audit and accounts officer at the Pakistani Embassy in France. His counsel argued that his client was dismissed from service for not complying with ‘unlawful’ orders from the authority.

He said under court order, the petitioner returned his personal passport to the federal ministry of defence. Later, he said, the court ordered the ministry of defence to return his passport. He argued that refusal to return the passport despite the court orders amounted to contempt of court.

He asked the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the federal secretary of defence.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2025