Lahore (Staff Report): Hamza Shahbaz Sharif and Ayesha Ahad Malik — who claims to be his wife —withdrew cases against each other after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar brokered an agreement between the two on Monday.
During the hearing of the case at the Lahore registry of the apex court, Malik informed the court that she could swear on oath that she was married to Hamza, who in turn also stated that he could say on oath that they had never contracted marriage.
Hamza stated that there was no proof of a Nikah (marriage) agreement between the two, while she claimed that she had witnesses who were present on the occasion.
During the hearing, the chief justice initially asked Hamza to exercise his right to divorce Malik if they had ever been married, but Hamza continued to deny that the marriage had taken place.
"If proven that you were living together without marrying, it would be a major embarrassment," the CJP had warned him.
Following an hour-long discussion in the chamber, the chief justice announced that an agreement had been reached between the two. However, the top judge remarked that the conditions under which both the parties signed an agreement would not be made public.
On June 3, police registered a case has against Hamza Shehbaz among six others.
The case has been registered under sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 337 (hurt and injuries), 354 (molestation with sexual motive) of the Pakistan Penal Code and sections 149 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) and 511 (attempting to commit punishable offences) of Code of Criminal Procedure.
Others named in the case include Zulfiqar Cheema, Inspector Ateeq Dogar, former Inspector General Rana Maqbool and Imran Yousuf.
On Saturday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had ordered Police Punjab chief to register a case against those allegedly involved in abusing Ayesha Ahad.
Ahad had alleged that she contracted marriage with Hamza Shehbaz in 2010.