Process of Nawaz Sharif's land auction begins in Sheikhupura

• The auction process of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's land located in the Feroz Watwan area of ​​Sheikhupura has begun.
  
• Former prime minister's 11 acres and 4 marlas of the land have been put up for auction.
  
• The administration is inviting people to participate in Nawaz's land auction, but so far no one has participated in the bidding process.
  

The auction process of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's land located in the Feroz Watwan area of ​​Sheikhupura has begun on Thursday. 

Former prime minister's  11 acres and 4 marlas of the land have been put up for auction.

The court order for the auction of Nawaz Sharif's property was readout during the process while a claimant of the property also came forward.

The claimant, named Mukhtar Habib, said that he is the hereditary owner of this land.

After Habib, another claimant of the property reached the auction hall, saying this land is his inherited property.

Following the development, the management directed the claimants to approach the court in the matter.

Read more: IHC rejects pleas challenging auctioning of Nawaz Sharif's properties

The people interested to participate in the auction of Nawaz's property were asked to bring their data for further process.

The auction price of Nawaz's property has been fixed at Rs7 million per acre.

On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had rejected three petitions submitted for hearing against the auctioning of properties of the former prime minister.

Petitions against the auction had been filed by Mian Iqbal Barkat, Muhammad Ashraf, and Aslam Aziz.

“The Islamabad High Court cannot hear these petitions under Article 199 of the Constitution as there is an alternative forum already present,” said the bench.

The petitioners were asked to approach the alternate forum available — the accountability court in this case — if they seek to stop the auctioning of properties.

Nawaz Sharif's property put up for auction

Last month, an accountability court accepted a petition filed by the NAB Rawalpindi for the auction of assets owned by Nawaz.

NAB's decision to auction the PML-N supreme leader's assets came after he was declared a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana reference.

After the accountability court's approval, the concerned provincial governments were permitted to auction Nawaz Sharif's properties wherever they are located.

The court had ordered Deputy Commissioner Lahore and Sheikhupura to submit a report on the matter within 60 days.

The properties should be auctioned and the money should be deposited in the national treasury, the court had said.

Nawaz's vehicles should also be auctioned within 30 days, the court further ordered. The vehicles will be seized and sold with the help of the police, the court said.

The court also ordered the seizure of any funds in Nawaz's bank accounts and their deposit in the public exchequer.

Read more: Accountability court orders seizure of Nawaz Sharif's property in Toshakhana case

Furthermore, the chairman of, Securities, and Exchange Commission of Pakistan had also been directed to sell shares owned by Nawaz in four companies. Proceeds from the sale should be deposited in the national treasury, the court had said.

An accountability court had ordered the attachment of the properties in question on January 1 last year.

The former PM, however, had not surrendered to the court even months after the order of attachment.

NAB had argued that Nawaz willfully did not surrender despite being a proclaimed offender and so the attached properties are required to be sold out as per the prescribed procedure.