LAHORE, Aug 6: Justice Khwaja Farooq Saeed of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday asked the Home Department and the inspector general (IG) to submit a reply in two weeks in a contempt plea by the United Bank Limited (UBL) against the closure of its branch against the court orders.

The high court ordered the Home Department and the IG not to ask the bank to increase security at its branches.

The bank through Syed Ali Zafar pleaded that the police continued defying the court orders and closed a bank branch at Mughalpura citing “insufficient security measures”.

The petitioner's counsel said officials, under the garb of law and order, could not direct the bank to take unusual and expensive security measures. He argued that under the law and constitution it was duty of the government to protect the life and property of people.

He said several station house officers were issuing directions to UBL branches to make concrete bunkers, employ extra guards which were beyond the requirements of the Punjab Shops and Establishment (security) Act of 1999.

WOMAN: Justice Khwaja Farooq Saeed of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday sent a woman with her husband after recovering her from her brothers’ custody.

Javed Iqbal of Thokar Niaz Beg had moved the court for the recovery of her wife. The judge ordered reunion of the couple after the woman appeared before him and submitted that she wanted to go with her husband. The judge said a sui juris woman, who had lawfully wedded a man, could not be stopped from going with her husband on any pretext.

Iqbal said he wed Naziran on Feb 2, 2000. On June 28 this year his brother-in-law Muhammad Bashir came to his house and took Naziran with him with a promise that she would return within a fortnight. On July 18, he went to Bashir’s house to bring his wife back, but he was told that she was living with her uncle in Okara. He went to Okara, where a large number of people forced him to divorce Naziran. He refused, but they grabbed him, took his thumb impressions on a blank paper and forced him to leave the place.

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