LAHORE: A contempt petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for allegedly influencing the proceedings of a case involving the Orange Line of Lahore Metro Train.
The petitioner said the chief minister, while addressing a seminar on Orange Line at Aiwan-i-Iqbal a few days ago, said that only a handful of people were criticising this project, which was meant to improve people’s living standards and transport facilities for the masses. He said the chief minister stated that the interest of people would be safeguarded at any cost. He quoted the chief minister as saying that he would sacrifice his life, but not allow anyone to put hurdles in the way of this “public welfare project”. He cited the chief minister as saying that he would fight the people opposing this project on every front and described the opposition to the project as a war between progress and backwardness, prosperity and poverty, truth and falsehood and justice and injustice.
The petitioner said the chief minister tried to influence the court proceedings through his speech. He said the court had barred the government from carrying out the project, but the chief minister openly said he would not allow anyone to put hurdles in the way of this project. The court should initiate contempt of court proceedings against the chief minister for his speech on the project, said petitioner Azhar Siddique, a lawyer.
A division bench of the LHC on January 28 took up a petition moved on behalf of civil society representatives and stayed work on the project within 200 feet of 11 historical sites.
