The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday barred the authorities from arresting two senior officials accused of involvement in the murder conspiracy of former LHC chief justice Khawaja Sharif. The accused, Touqeer Shah, former principal secretary to Punjab chief minister, and Talha Burki, staff officer, had filed a petition in the court. After the hearing, Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq passed the orders, restraining the authorities from arresting the petitioners until Friday (Aug 10). Earlier, petitioners’ counsel Khawaja Harris argued that the case registered against the accused was bogus, saying they did not have any link with the conspiracy.
He said that the FIR (first information report) copy had not been provided to the accused. The court directed the deputy attorney general to provide a copy of the FIR to the accused and also barred their arrest until Friday. They were accused of hatching a conspiracy to produce a false and fabricated intelligence report in a bid to create differences among federal government, provincial government and judiciary.