'This is not Nine Zero': Sheikh Rashid challenges order to vacate Lal Haveli

• Judge issues notice to Evacuee Trust Property Board's director. 
• Petition states property owned by Sheikh Rashid for several decades. 
• Hearing to take place on October 24. 

RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Monday challenged the notice to vacate land and rooms adjacent to his Lal Haveli residence located in Rawalpindi. 

The AML chief approached the court of Additional Sessions Judge Khursheed Alam Bhatti today which issued a notice to the director of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to appear before it.

The court ordered the director to present himself on Tuesday with a complete record and warned the ETPB from taking any illegal action. 

The petition said that Lal Haveli is the former interior minister's property and this is only done on the basis of political vendetta. The petitioner's lawyer claimed that Lal Haveli has been owned by Sheikh Rashid for several decades.

The AML chief's nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafique also appeared before the court. 

The court said that the hearing will take place on October 24. 

'This is not Nine Zero'

Rashid, who has held 16 ministries, said that all the agencies could not find anything against him during the investigation of those ministries. "They have now targeted Lal Haveli," he said, adding that "this is not Nine Zero" — a reference to MQM's headquarters in Karachi which was raided by the Rangers in March 2015. 

The former interior minister said that the "incompetent" rulers are giving us recognition while dishonouring themselves. "Lal Haveli is a history that no one can remove," he added. 

A day earlier, Rashid and his brother Sheikh Siddique were served notices to vacate Lal Haveli. 

Deputy Administrator of the board Asif Khan had warned that the occupied property will be reclaimed with the help of police if not vacated within seven days.

He also wrote a letter to deputy commissioner Rawalpindi for police assistance on October 19.

Khan said that several hearings have been held in this regard, however, Rashid and his brother have failed to submit any authentic documents.