ISLAMABAD, May 7: Chief Coordinator of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Ahsan Iqbal has said after the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court in Shahbaz Sharif case, talk about any agreement between the Sharif family and the government must end.
Speaking at a news conference at the party's camp office here on Friday, the PML-N leader said the Supreme Court in its decision had stated that the federal and the provincial governments had not challenged Shahbaz Sharif's return and neither it produced any agreement in this regard.
Mr Iqbal was of the view that after this detailed judgment if someone claimed that there had been an agreement between the Sharif family and the government of Pakistan or the Saudi government, then it would amount to contempt of court.
He said if the government had hid any agreement even then it amounted to contempt of court. He said the Supreme Court in its detailed judgment had clearly stated that Shahbaz Sharif had the constitutional right not only to enter the country but also to stay in the country.
"Article 15 of the Constitution bestows a right on every citizen of Pakistan to enter or move freely throughout the country and to reside and settle in any part thereof," Mr Ahsan said, while quoting the text of the judgment.
He also read out a part of the judgment which stated: "The petitioner is a citizen of Pakistan and has a constitutional right to enter and remain in the country." Explaining, Mr Iqbal said, the Supreme Court had allowed Shahbaz Sharif not only to enter but to 'remain' in the country.
Therefore, the PML-N leader said the government could not deport Mr Sharif in the light of the decision. Similarly, he said, it was a political and constitutional right of the workers and activists of the party to receive their leader at the airport.
He asked the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the arrests of party workers and activists in different parts of the country. He claimed that so far over 500 party workers had been arrested throughout the country and the police had conducted over 1,000 raids on residences of party leaders and activists.
He condemned the arrest of PML-N information secretary, Siddiqul Farooque, and other party activists and demanded their immediate release. Quoting a recent report of an international agency, the PML- N leader said the west considered Pakistan a 'closed society'. He denied reports that Shahbaz Sharif was coming under a deal with the government.