LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday directed the federal secretary for foreign affairs to appear in person if the passport of a former defence accountant posted at the Pakistan`s embassy in France is not returned by the next week.

Earlier, an assistant attorney generaltoldthecourtthatthepassport of the petitioner was not with the secretary of defence, as it would be with the relevant (foreign affairs) secretary.

Justice sajid Mehmood Sethi observed that the petitioner had surrendered his passport underthe court order and it must be returned.

The judge noted that if the passport was not with the defence secretary, the foreign secretary must comply with the court order.

`A passport is a personal property; how can someone else keep it?` the judge questioned the law officer.

The assistant attorney general stated that repatriation documents of the petitioner were being prepared.

At this, the judge asked the law officer whether he had read the court`s order and advised him to read the case file before appearing in the court.

`If the passport is not returned by Monday, the foreign secretarymust appear in person,` Justice Sethi ordered and adjourned the hearing till May 26.

The petitioner, Muhammad Naveed, was the audit and accounts officer at the Pakistani embassy in France.

The petitioner`s counsel, Safdar Shaheen Pirzada, argued that his client was dismissed from service for not complying with `unlawful` orders from the authority.

He said under court order, the petitioner returned his passport to the defence ministry. Later, he said, the court ordered the defence ministry to return the petitioner`s passport.

He argued that not returning the passport despite the court orders amounted to contempt of court.