The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Monday sealed Lal Haveli, the residence of Awami Muslim League head Sheikh Rashid. According to the ETPB sources, six units of Lal Haveli had been sealed. The ETPB also wrote to the authorities concerned for the confirmation of the registry of one of the units of Lal Haveli. The decision of sealing or not sealing the unit will be made upon the confirmation of the registry by the authorities concerned.

“The state land had been under occupation for a long time,” the ETPB authorities said. A heavy contingent of Rawalpindi police had been deployed while the building was being sealed. On Saturday last, a civil court in Rawalpindi had rejected Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid’s petition challenging the Lal Haveli’s evacuation orders. Judge Naveed Akhtar had said that the court could not stop any department from taking action under the law.

The AML chief had argued in his petition that the evacuation of Lal Haveli was political victimisation as the case related to the property was already in litigation. Sheikh Rashid prayed in his plea that the Evacuee Trust Property Board be stopped from taking action that, he alleged, was a part of “settling the score against him”.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP