Pakistans Attorney General Justice (Retired) Malik Muhammad Qayyum has said that former Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif could be arrested when he returns to Pakistan later this year.
Islamabad, Aug.24 : Pakistan's Attorney General Justice (Retired) Malik Muhammad Qayyum has said that former Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif could be arrested when he returns to Pakistan later this year.
Qayyum told Geo News that if one party dishonours an agreement, then the other one was not bound to honour it. He said that Thursday's Supreme Court order did not say that Sharif could not be arrested once he returns to Pakistan.
He, however, said that a final decision would only be taken by President General Pervez Musharraf, as only he had the the authority of remitting the sentences or restoring pardoned sentences on the advise of the prime minister.
The President has been briefed about all the legal aspects in this regard, Justice Qayyum said.
Sharif and his family are planning to return home by the end of November after celebrating Ramazan in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) sources said.
Nawaz is said to have held a meeting with his family members before the Supreme Court gave its ruling on his petition, and it was decided that the Sharif family would first go to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah, and then spend the last two weeks of Ramazan in Mecca.
The Sharif family also decided to call on the Saudi royal family to thank them for their hospitality, sources added.
However, a final decision on the Sharif family's return to Pakistan would be taken by the PML-N Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting to be held in London in the first week of September.
Nawaz's eldest son, Hussain Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retired) Muhammad Safdar would leave for Jeddah from London on August 30 to make arrangements for the family's stay in Saroor Palace, sources said.
PML-N Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Muhammad Mehdi said the party workers wanted the Sharif brothers to return to Pakistan at the earliest, but the party would not take a hasty decision, the Daily Times reported.
He said that PML-N Chairman Raja Zafar ul-Haq would hold a meeting of the party's CEC and the central working committee in the next few days to draw a strategy for the Sharifs' to return to the country.
Mehdi said the CEC and CWC meetings would also discuss the provincial-level arrangements for giving Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif a warm welcome at the Lahore Airport.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its landmark verdict on Thursday.
Announcing the verdict, the apex court observed that the Sharif brothers are Pakistanis, and can participate in the national politics after coming back.
In a brief judgment, the court said that under Article 3 of the Constitution, no citizen of the country can be stopped from his or her return to home, The News reported.
Senior lawyer Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim appeared before the court on behalf of the Sharif brothers. Attorney General Malik Qayyum, Ahmed Raza Kasuri and Ibrahim Satti were the counsels of the federal government.
ANI