LAHORE, April 11: Lahore organization of the Pakistan Muslim League served a show cause notice on Thursday to Data Ganj Bakhsh Town Nazim Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan for attending the Tuesday public meeting to launch the president’s referendum campaign.

The notice was served by Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, the Lahore PML general secretary.

PML’s Punjab president had already announced that the party would take action against its Nazims and councillors supporting the referendum or participating in the campaign.

In the notice, Mr Hassaan, a former mayor of Lahore, has been accused of violating party discipline by lending support to the referendum and participating in the meeting organized by the “unlawful and unconstitutional regime” despite instructions to the contrary.

The notice directed the town Nazim to tender written apology to the exiled PML leaders — Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif — as well as the party workers for participating in the referendum meeting and issue a press statement against the referendum besides tendering his resignation from the office to the PML leadership for betraying the mandate of the party leadership and the Nazims, Naib Nazims and councillors.

Mr Hassaan has been given three days to explain his position to Lahore PML president Imdad Husain. In case of a failure, the notice warns, the party would be obliged take disciplinary action against him.