Pak court stops salary of officials in Dilip Kumar house case

A Pakistani court today ordered withholding of salary of two provincial government officials for failing to submit replies over a writ petition against the move to declare the ancestral house of legendary Indian film actor Dilip Kumar here as part of national heritage.
A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered stoppage of salary of Secretary, Sports and Culture, and the Director, Culture, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa till further orders over their failure to submit replies on behalf of the provincial government over a writ petition filed against declaring Kumar's ancestral house as national heritage by the Pakistan government.

The bench comprising Justice Waqar Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali issued the orders on a writ petition filed by Lal Muhammad who had challenged the declaration of the 130 square metre house in Mohallah Khuddadad in Peshawar as part of national heritage by the government.
The bench sought replies from both the government officials in the next hearing.
The counsel for petitioner Shahnawaz Khan told the court that his client had purchased the house in 2007, therefore it could not be declared as a national heritage building.
He further argued that Kumar's father had sold the house for Rs 500 after the Partition to a person who later sold it to another buyer from whom his client had purchased it.

92-year-old Kumar was born Yusuf Khan in Peshawar. In the late 1930s, his family relocated to Mumbai.
The house was declared a national heritage structure in July last year by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who ordered authorities to acquire the dilapidated property, a move he hoped would bring Pakistan and India closer.
After acquiring the house, the government reportedly planned to convert it into a museum while inviting Kumar and his family to visit it.