ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared a petition seeking disqualification of Raja Basharat as Punjab law minister maintainable for hearing.
A petition was filed in the IHC claiming that Basharat did not disclose his movable and immovable properties, and also concealed their monetary value. The petitioner, Semal Raja, contended in his petition that the provincial law minister also kept his expenditures of foreign tours secret with an ‘ill intent’.
Proclaiming the petition maintainable, the high court issued notices to the respondents and adjourned the hearing until two weeks.
It is to be noted here that in a recent audio leak, Raja Basharat has been allegedly caught forcing Benazir Bhutto Hospital MS to transfer Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi Dr Areeba Abbasi.
Talking to journalists in Lahore, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has said the case will be dealt with according to law. “We are looking into it,” he said. “We can’t say anything about the audio leak yet. Things will become clearer after an investigation,” he said, adding that the PTI government is sticking to its policy of political non-interference.
To a query about Dr Ariba’s resignation, the chief minister said, “She sent her resignation to medical superintendent, not me. He will make a decision regarding that.”
Meanwhile, in a statement, Hanif Abbasi expressed helplessness over what he called his daughter’s ‘political victimisation’. Abbasi said his daughter was targeted at a time when he was in jail and could not do much about it. “Is this Naya Pakistan where daughters are treated this way,” he questioned.
“Right now I am a helpless father who can’t do anything for his daughter … I leave the matter on the mercy of Allah Almighty,” he remarked.
Published in Daily Times, December 19th2018.
