LAHORE           -            The Lahore High Court (LHC) will take up on Monday (today) MML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s petition seeking removal of her name from the no-fly list and a one-time permission to go to London for six weeks to see her ailing father.

She filed the second petition after the government failed to decide her matter within seven days in accordance with the direction of the LHC.

There are reports that the committee, set up to prepare recommendations about Maryam’s request to go to London, is not in favour of allowing the daughter of the former prime minister to leave the country. The government is expected to make its position clear today before the LHC bench.

Ban on kite flying

to continue

The Punjab government has ordered imposition of a complete ban on the Basant festival, a TV channel reported on Sunday.

It says the chief secretary has issued an order to this effect. A government meeting discussed the issue of celebrating Basant in February.

The chief secretary in the session ordered district administrations in Punjab to take stern action against kite flying across the province.

The meeting decided that nobody will be allowed to play the blood sport, the TV said.

A lawyer had moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) last year against the government’s decision to lift the 12-year-old ban imposed on celebrating Basant festival in the province.

The petitioner said that it was unconstitutional to allow a leisure activity that results in the loss of human lives.

The ban on Basant was imposed by the Supreme Court in 2007 after the deaths of several people due to kite’s glass-coated strings.