A Karachi court on Saturday stayed the exhumation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA and televangelist Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain's body for an autopsy till August 11.
The Additional Sessions Judge-II (East), Ghulam Mustafa Laghari passed the order on an application filed by the children of the former lawmaker, Dua-e-Aamir and Ahmed Aamir, who had challenged the June 18 order of a judicial magistrate that allowed a plea for the exhumation of his body to ascertain the actual cause of his death, Dawn reported.
While ordering the exhumation of Hussain's body, the Judicial Magistrate (East) Wazeer Hussain Memon had observed that the cause of his death was still uncertain, which itself had raised questions about whether it was natural or unnatural and could only be ascertained after exhuming the body and its examination. The judge had passed the order on an application moved by a citizen, Abdul Ahad.
During the hearing, Advocate Zia Awan claimed that Ahad, on account of his previous political rivalry with Hussain, had filed the application for exhuming the body of his client's father for an autopsy.
He expressed the apprehension that his clients would suffer irreparable loss if the stay order was not granted, according to Dawn.
Notably, Liaquat Hussain's children had obtained a stay order against a judicial magistrate's order with regard to the exhumation of their father's body to ascertain his cause of death, News International reported.
The petitioners Ahmed Amir and Dua-e-Amir, children of the late lawmaker, submitted in the petition that their father died on June 9 and they were allowed to bury him after obtaining permission from a judicial magistrate, as legal heirs did not want to conduct an autopsy of the deceased to ascertain his cause of death, the News International reported.
The counsel for Hussain's children submitted that the judicial magistrate had conducted an external examination on the body and allowed burial after completing all the formalities. He said another judicial magistrate, on an application of a counsel, allowed the exhumation of the body and ordered the constitution of a medical board for the purpose, which was without jurisdiction.
On June 9, Pakistan's former Member of the National Assembly (MNA) and popular television host Amir Liaquat, 49, passed away in Karachi under mysterious circumstances.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader was found unconscious at his home in Khudad Colony and shifted to a private hospital in a critical condition.
The doctors said that Liaquat was dead when he was brought to the hospital.
The body of the PTI lawmaker was handed over to his family for burial only after Judicial Magistrate Naukar Abbas allowed it.
( With inputs from ANI )
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