New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Additional Attorney General (AAG) to ensure that its directives for the demolition of the Navy Sailing Club and the initiation of criminal proceedings against former Navy chief Admiral (retd) Zafar Mahmood Abbasi are placed before Prime Minister Imran Khan and the federal cabinet, The Express Tribune reported.

A two-member division bench of the high court comprising Justices Amir Farooq and Gul Hassan Aurangzeb directed the former naval chief to appear before the cabinet secretary on Wednesday if the cabinet does not take a decision until then, the report said.

The directives were issued during the hearing on an inter-court appeal filed by Advocate Ashtar Osaf, challenging the court's order to demolish sailing club and the initiation of criminal proceedings against the former naval chief.

The appeal stated that the former naval chief had been an officer in Pakistan Navy for 45 years, commanding it from 2017 to 2020.

It added that the appeal on which the decision was announced was not admissible.

It also noted that the original petition did not call for criminal proceedings, therefore the single-bench verdict of January 7 should be declared null and void, the report added.

The appellant said the court wrote in its verdict that the former naval chief violated his oath by inaugurating an illegal building, while the executive, in a notification issued on August 23, 1991, appointed naval chief as the patron-in-chief of water sports throughout Pakistan.

He added that the Navy Sailing Club building was given to it in 1994 and the land for naval farms was also purchased.

To this, Justice Farooq said that everything belongs to the government, and it is merely used by the department concerned.

He cited the example of the Ministry of Law being responsible for court buildings, asserting that the relevant ministry for the armed forces is the Ministry of Defence.