Pakistan court gives ‘final chance’ to Punjab govt

A Pakistani court on Friday gave a “last and final opportunity” to the Punjab government to respond to a petition seeking contempt proceedings against it for not complying with the court’s order regarding naming the Shadman Chowk in Lahore after Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Lahore High Court Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza on Friday, in a hearing on the petition filed by the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation, Pakistan, gave “a last and final opportunity to the Punjab government to respond on the matter”.

Punjab Assistant Advocate General Saad Bin Gazi appeared before the court and sought more time to reply. “Upon the request of the Punjab Assistant Advocate General, a last and final opportunity is given to (Punjab) government to respond on the matter,” the judge said in his order.

The petitioner’s counsel Advocate Khalid Zaman Khan Kakar told the court that there had already been a lot of delay in this matter and it should be decided forthwith. The court, however, adjourned the proceedings till November 8. Foundation chairman Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi filed the contempt petition for the government’s failure to name the Shadman Chowk after Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Qureshi said the Lahore High Court in 2018 had ordered the Punjab government to name the Shadman Chowk, where Shaheed Bhagat Singh was hanged in 1931, after the independence war hero. “But both the government deliberately did not comply with the LHC’s order and thus committed contempt,” he said.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who fought for the independence of undivided India, was hanged by the British rulers on March 23, 1931, along with his comrades Raj Guru and Sukh Dev following their trial on charges of hatching a conspiracy against the British regime.