Islamabad: The former attorney for Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and constitutional expert, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, yesterday said that anyone who tried to deport the Sharif brothers upon their return to Pakistan on September 10, even on the President's orders, would go to jail.
"I have no slightest doubt ... that whoever tried to block Sharif brothers' return to the country after a clear verdict from the Supreme Court, will attempt a contempt of court which is punishable by law," Ahsan said while talking to the journalists in the Supreme Court building.
After the clear verdict of the Supreme Court, they should be allowed to take part in political activities as per the law of the land.
Ties
In reply to a question Ahsan said: "I still wish that the PPP [Pakistan People's Party] chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Sharif brothers would return together.
"Had they managed to come together ... the current regime would have been found nowhere."
Ahsan said that a section of PPP believed that a deal with President Musharraf might be harmful for the party. The PPP stalwart said that the government could not stop Nawaz and Shahbaz from returning but it was spreading rumours that they would not return just to confuse the public.
Ahsan denied reports that he would be PPP candidate against General Musharraf in the presidential elections, saying that his party would boycott the elections if President Musharraf tried to get re-elected from the current assemblies.
Sources at the Interior Ministry told Gulf News yesterday the government's relevant authorities have made all arrangements to arrest exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, from the Islamabad airport on September 10.
Nawaz weighs which airline to take home
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, determined to return to Pakistan on Monday despite warnings that he will be immediately jailed, faces a rather curious dilemma: which airline should he take home?
"We very much want to travel by our national airline, but perhaps that may not be possible for reasons not under our control," he told Dawn in London.
He indicated he might take one of the Gulf airlines or Thai Airways, or even private Pakistani carrier Air Blue. Khaqan Abbasi, former chairperson of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and who now belongs to Sharif's faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), runs Air Blue.
"We are looking for an airline which will take us to Islamabad neither too early in the morning nor too late in the night," Sharif maintained.
He is also said to have considered chartering a private aircraft for the purpose but abandoned the idea as he didn't find it feasible.
Sharif's party is still finalising the list of those who would accompany Sharif.
"No other family members are accompanying me besides [brother] Shahbaz."
- IANS
