ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: Piqued by his forced deportation to Saudi Arabia in exile, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League (N) on Tuesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the government for what he called defying the apex court’s order and held Gen Pervez Musharraf responsible for ‘subverting’ the law of the land.

The 10-page contempt of court petition also contained an affidavit of Lord Nazir Ahmed, member of the British House of Lords, who travelled along with the petitioner on Sept 10 to Islamabad from London. It alleged that Nawaz Sharif never consented to go with the law-enforcement officers and was deported against his will.

Jointly moved by Mr Sharif and the PML (N), the petition named 13 persons as respondents. They are: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the federation through interior secretary, chief secretary Punjab, chief secretary Pervaiz Elahi, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Punjab Inspector General Police Ahmed Nasim, National Accountability Bureau chairman Naveed Ahsan, Rawalpindi DIG Police Murawat Shah, Col (retd) Afzal of NAB, Pakistan Rangers Punjab director-general Maj-Gen Haroon, Federal Investigation Agency director-general Tariq Pervez, Pakistan International Airlines chairman Zafar A. Khan and Civil Aviation Authority director-general Farooq Rehmatullah.

In his petition, Mr Sharif sought a direction of the court for securing his return to Pakistan and subsequent production before the court. He said he had been illegally abducted and removed from the territory of his country without even his passport.

On Monday, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif had filed a contempt of court petition seeking production of the party chief before the court but it turned infructuous after Mr Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia.

Soon after filing the fresh petition, Khawaja Asif and Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, who has the power of attorney on behalf of his father Shahbaz Sharif and uncle Nawaz Sharif, accused the government of kidnapping the former prime minister and said the 10-year exile agreement between the Sharif brothers and Saudi and Lebanese leaders had no legal value.

“Nawaz Sharif was sent back to exile against his will by the authorities to protect the interest of Gen Musharraf,” they alleged.

Citing the Supreme Court’s Aug 23 order in which the court had asked the authorities not to hamper Nawaz Sharif’s arrival, the petitioner pleaded that he was restrained for one and half hours inside the aircraft at the Islamabad airport and a NAB official announced on a loudspeaker at the Rawal Lounge different charges against him. After the announcement, a large number of commandos forcibly isolated him from other members of his entourage.

Despite repeated protests and reminding them of violation of the apex court order, he was informed that a special aircraft was waiting to take him to Quetta.

“The respondents succeeded in executing criminal conspiracy to contemptuously defeat and disobey the Supreme Court order, denied him entry into Pakistan and thus openly violated his right to enter and remain in Pakistan,” the petition said.

In reckless eagerness to defy the apex court order, the respondents did not even affix entry or exit stamp on his passport and during the use of force to isolate him from his colleagues, his passport was left behind with one of his associates, it said.

Later, Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum told reporters that he was still in the process of getting facts, adding that the ‘gentleman’ concerned had left the country willingly.