RAWALPINDI, June 9: A local court on Wednesday summoned Adviser to the Prime Minister on Women Development and Special Education Nilofar Bakhtiar on Friday in a case related to an alleged attack by the activists of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court.
Senior Civil Judge Abdur Rehman Awan issued the summons, as Ms Bakhtiar was not present in the court during the hearing of the case due to which the court could not frame charges against the accused. The court also directed Ms Bakhtiar to ensure her presence on Friday, as she along with a dozen of other PML-N activists would be indicted on that day.
The court had on Tuesday rejected Ms Bakhtiar's plea seeking withdrawal of charges against her and other accused. Ms Bakhtiar's counsel, Malik Mohammad Nawaz, had submitted an application to the court in which he contended that charges could not be framed against the accused as the same case was being tried in two courts.
According to the law no case could be put on trial in two courts simultaneously, he contended. Mr Nawaz further contended that the incident had taken place ten years ago when the court denied bail to Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, now Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and then a PML-N member, who was nominated in an arms case.
The government at that time had withdrawn the case against Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, while, the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, had already handed down six-month imprisonment to PML-N activists for resorting to violence under a contempt of court case.
The counsel also contended that the government had withdrawn the case against the main character, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, while the Supreme Court had ordered a day-to-day hearing of the case despite the fact that there were no independent eye-witnesses to the case except for some staff of the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench.
Besides, he said many of the witnesses were also not appearing in the court to record their statements. He also observed that the PML-N demonstration could not be included in the contempt of court circle as the activists had protested outside the court and not on the court premises.
The prosecution contended that Ms Bakhtiar, who was then a PML-N member, had attacked the Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court along with as many as 23 other party activists. According to the prosecution, the PML-N activists had resorted to rampage after the court refused to award bail to Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in the arms case.