LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed the interior secretary to appear in person along with a progress report to inform the court about steps taken by the federal government to restrain Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain from making statements against Pakistan and initiating high-treason proceedings against him.
On October 24, the secretary had sought time to inform the court about the steps the federal government had taken so far in this regard.
During the proceedings on Thursday, Additional Attorney General Naseer Ahmad Bhutta informed the court that the interior secretary did not appear in court on his advice, as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was out of country for medical checkup.
He said the secretary would not be in a position to assist the court without seeking instructions from the minister.
He said the minister would return to the country on November 29 or December 2, and requested the court to defer further proceedings for four weeks.
Advocates Ahmad Awais and Muhammad Azhar Siddique opposed the plea of the law officer and said the government wanted to delay the proceedings in the case.
They asserted that the matter had already been delayed due to inaction of the government, and now more time should not be given.
The bench, consisting of Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu and Justice Erum Sajjad Gull, turned down the request of Naseer Ahmad Bhutta and summoned the interior secretary on November 28.
Advocates Azhar Siddique, Sardar Aftab Virk and others moved these petitions.
Azhar Siddique submitted that the MQM founder had repeatedly delivered anti-Pakistan speeches but the federal government was not taking action against him. He said that Altaf Hussain made a similar speech on August 22 but the government acted as a silent spectator yet again.
He said despite the order of the full bench, the attorney general or any official of the Interior Ministry did not appear before the court. On this, the bench expressed its displeasure and remarked that such a behavior of the government was condemnable.
Another counsel, Ahmad Awais, said that under the constitution of Pakistan, every political party must be loyal to the state. He said that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was involved in anti-Pakistan activities and, in a speech, had raised slogans against Pakistan.
He also submitted that Altaf Hussain was a British national and had been running the party from abroad, which was a violation of the political parties’ registration law. He pointed out that under the Political Parties Order 2002, the federal government had the right to ban any party that was not patriot or loyal to the state.
He said that the recent speech of Altaf established that the MQM was more of a terrorist outfit than a political party. He said the government had the authority to cancel the registration of any political party. He said that an application was moved in this regard but the federal government did not bother taking action on it.
He requested the court to order the federal government for cancellation of the MQM’s registration.