LAHORE, Jan 3: Authorities in Punjab on Thursday did not allow British High Commissioner Robert Brinkley to meet Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Aitzaz Ahsan, who has been under house arrest since November 3.

The high commissioner reached Mr Ahsan’s home and was allowed to meet his wife Mrs Bushra Aitzaz. Mr Brinkley avoided talking to the media.

Earlier, the authorities had stopped US Ambassador Anne Patterson from seeing Mr Ahsan.

Mr Ahsan’s son Ali told reporters that Mr Brinkley had sought permission for the meeting from the assistant superintendent jail Farrukh. When the diplomat asked the official about the procedure for the meeting, he was told to contact the Punjab home department.

Mr Ali quoted Mr Brinkley as saying that he would hopefully get to see Mr Ahsan soon after obtaining permission from the authorities concerned.

According to Mr Ali, the high commissioner told his mother that his government would lodge a protest with Islamabad on the continued detention of the SCBA president and the deposing of superior courts judges under the November 3 emergency rule.

Mrs Aitzaz told him that the lawyers’ movement for independence of judiciary would continue despite government tactics.

The meeting also discussed the assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and the ensuing wave of violence and lawlessness.

Mrs Aitzaz that had there been an independent judiciary, the assassins would not have succeeded in their nefarious designs because the apex court would have taken suo motu notice of the inadequate security provided to Ms Bhutto.

At least the people would have hoped that elements responsible for the heinous act would be brought to justice.

She regretted that the government was ‘so cruel’ that it neither allowed her husband, a leader of the PPP, to attend the funeral of Ms Bhutto nor to take part in her soyem held in the city.

Mr Ali said that although his father recovered from a pneumonia attack he had suffered after travelling in an open police jeep for several hours after having been taken into custody before Eidul Azha, he was ‘upset, frustrated and depressed’ for not being allowed to attend the funeral of the leader with whom he had worked for 30 years.

Earlier, Mr Brinkley called on PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif at his Raiwind residence and exchanged views with him on various issues.

The diplomat said his country was sending a Scotland Yard team next week.