Contempt plea filed in Pak court over not naming 'chowk' after Bhagat Singh

A contempt petition was filed in a Pakistani court on Friday against the Punjab provincial government and the district administration for not naming the Shadman Chowk in Lahore after Indian Independence war hero Bhagat Singh.

The petition, which was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) by Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation chairman Advocate Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, seeks contempt proceedings against the Punjab Chief Secretary, Lahore Deputy Commissioner and the city administration for violating the order of the court that had directed naming the Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh.

Talking to PTI, Advocate Qureshi said that the LHC in 2018 had ordered the government to name the Shadman Chowk after Singh where he was hanged in 1931.

"But both the provincial and district governments deliberately did not comply with the court's order and this committed contempt," he said. He said the court is likely to take up the petition on Monday.

Singh fought for the independence of the subcontinent from British rule. He was hanged by British rulers on March 23, 1931, along with fellow freedom fighters Raj Guru and Sukh Dev after being tried under charges of hatching a conspiracy against the regime.

Singh was initially jailed for life but later handed down a death sentence in another fabricated case.