LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday asked the Inspector General of Punjab (IGP) Arif Nawaz to provide details of all security barriers in Lahore.
The directions were given during the hearing of a suo motu notice on security blockades in different parts of the city.
Presiding over a three-judge bench at the Lahore Registry, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar said that citizens should never be harassed in the name of security.
In an earlier hearing, the CJP had ordered for the removal of barriers outside the house of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member National Assembly (MNA) Hamza Shehbaz.
The chief justice reprimanded Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed when he said only the security gate near Hamza’s residence was removed and not the barriers.
CJP Nisar asked him to explain as to who posed threat to the MNA, prompting him to install security barriers outside his residence in a zigzag manner.
“Who’s Hamza. I don’t know any Hamza,” Chief Justice Nisar remarked.
In response, the chief secretary said, “Hamza is an MNA and the chief minister’s son.”
“Hamza can appear before the court to apprise about the threats to his life and if there are genuine threats then he can shift his residence,” the chief justice remarked. “Why cannot these people reside where there is no life threat,” he continued.
“I am the chief justice, yet there are no blockades outside my house,” Justice Nisar said.
The chief secretary assured the court of removing the blockades.
Chief Justice Nisar informed the official that he will visit the place in a private vehicle to look into the implementation of the court’s order.
Taking exception to security guards taking bath in the open outside the lawmaker’s residence, he warned that if the practice didn’t stop, he would take strict action in this regard.
Hamza, an MNA from Lahore, resides in Model Town’s H-Block close to his father and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s residence.
Earlier, the Supreme Court in its written judgement ordered that traffic can only be stopped for two minutes to facilitate VVIP movement in a case regarding road blockades to facilitate VVIP movement.
Headed by Mian Saqib Nisar, a three-judge bench of the apex court heard the case at the Supreme Court’s (SC) Karachi Registry on January 13.
The CJP had specified that the convenience of the public should be kept above everything else and that the general public faces immense hardships when roads are blocked for VVIPs.
