Nawaz arrives at SC over Pakpattan shrine land allotment case.

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday morning arrived at the Supreme Court over a case revolving around Auqaf property in Pakpattan. The case concerns the illegal allotment of property owned by the Auqaf Department to a man identified asDewan Ghulam Qutab.

The land allotment was also in violation of orders by the Lahore High Court (LHC). The land, which is beside the shrine of Hazrat Baba Fariduddin Masud Ganj Shakar, was transferred in 1985 when Nawaz was the Punjab chief minister.

The apex court had summoned the former premier over the case, directing him to appear before the SC on December 4. However, in his response, Nawaz had argued that since the land allotment occurred approximately 33 years ago, he did not remember having passed a directive for the transfer.

As such, the former premier urged the top court to discharge the notice in the interest of justice. Former chief justice Nasirul Mulk in 2015 had taken a suo motu notice of illegal allotment of land.

During a hearing over the case in October, the SCwas informed that 8,000 kanals of land of the Pakpattan shrine belonging to the Auqaf department was sold to Dewan Ghulam Qutab as per an order in 1985. BACKGROUND: As per the revenue record from 1947 to 1958,Dewan Ghulam Qutab and his family were considered owners of the shrine's land. The family sold the land to different people until Jan 1, 1970, when the Punjab...