Sharif summoned over remarks on Mumbai attack
Former prime minister said militant groups were active in country
The Lahore High Court on Monday summoned Nawaz Sharif on October 8 during the hearing of a petition seeking action against the deposed prime minister for claiming that those involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack belonged to Pakistan.
Sharif, for the first time in May, publicly acknowledged in an interview to Dawn that militant organisations are active in Pakistan and questioned the policy to allow the “non-state actors” to cross the border and “kill” people in Mumbai.
In the exclusive interview, he had also criticised the apparent delay in the conclusion of the Mumbai attack trial.
The Lahore High Court’s three-member bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi also issued nonbailable arrest warrants for Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida and ordered placing his name on the Exit Control List.
“Justice Naqvi expressed anger over non-appearance of Almeida in the court, directing the Deputy Inspector General of the Police Punjab to present him in the court on next hearing [October 8],” a court official told reporters.
The judge, before summoning Sharif on October 8, also inquired from advocate Naseer Bhutta, Sharif’s counsel, as to why his client did not appear before the court on Monday. Advocate Bhutta said Sharif would appear in the next hearing as he was mourning the death of his wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz. She died of throat cancer on September 11 in London.