In a significant ruling, the Pakistan Supreme Court has said Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif who was exiled to Saudi Arabia, has a constitutional right to return home as the government has not furnished any evidence of a deal with his family, based on which he could not come back to the country for 10 years.

The apex court, in a detailed judgment in connection with two petitions filed by Shahbaz, said that as a citizen of Pakistan he has a constitutional right to return home and remain in the country as it is a settled proposition of law that his right to enter the country cannot be denied.

The three-judge bench, which dismissed his petitions on April 7 with an observation that he could return from exile and face the cases pending against him, Friday released a detailed 12-page order in which it said the government has not furnished any evidence of a deal between it and the Sharif family based on which the Sharif brothers along with 17 of their family members were exiled to Jeddah in 2000.

The government claims that the Sharif brothers have been sent on exile to Jeddah after an agreement that they will not return home for 10 years. But, Shahbaz, who is currently in London, want to return home on May 11 to lead Pakistan Muslim League-N's agitation against President Pervez Musharraf.

On Shahbaz's apprehensions that instructions have been issued to all airports to deport him immediately if he returned to Pakistan, the court said the apprehensions were not substantiated with any tangible evidence.

"A petition cannot be entertained merely on an apprehension whatever its nature may be," it said.

Buoyed by the apex court's ruling, Shahbaz filed a fresh petition in the Lahore High Court seeking an order to prevent the local government from deporting him.

Shahbaz, who heads Pakistan Muslim League-N, said the court's ruling makes it clear that the government has no right to deport him on his return to the country on May 11.

"There is nothing that can have primacy over the Constitution. The Supreme Court has held that I have the constitutional right to come to my country and stay there. The government has no right to deport me," he was quoted as saying by local daily Dawn.

He said the government would be violating the Constitution and the top court's judgment if it deported him.
"I am a very small fry. If they deport me, they will be damaging the face of Pakistan and compromising the position of the judiciary both at home and abroad. Such a step on their part will also wash away the impression about rule of law in the country," he said.

Shahbaz, however, declined to comment on why his brother Nawaz Sharif was silent on his return to Pakistan.

"I'll not like to comment on it," he said, adding Sharif was not only his elder brother but also his leader.

Shahbaz said the PML-N's vote bank belonged to Nawaz Sharif, not him. "I respect him from the core of my heart."

He also condemned what he called large-scale arrest and detention of his party leaders and workers across the country ahead of his plan to arrive at Lahore on May 11.