Even in his death, radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi of Lal Masjid, who was killed in the military operation to storm the complex on Tuesday, remained controversial with the Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday ordering the government to permit his relatives to take part in the funeral ceremony to be held in his native town in Punjab.

A legal row broke out in the court as Ghazi's sister Ayesha turned up with an advocate and wanted to meet Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas to seek his intervention to order the government to let the family bury Ghazi's body in the boys' madrasa in Islamabad.

Justice Das asked her to file a petition after which he referred it to a two-judge bench.

The petition was opposed by Interior Ministry officials who said that Ghazi's body was also flown to the slain cleric's hometown Rojhan Mazari by helicopter at the instance of Ghazi's brother Abdul Aziz, who is currently in police custody after he was arrested while trying to flee wearing a burqa.

Judges Nawab Abbasi and Fakhir Muhammad Khokhar late in the evening declined to order the government to permit Ghazi's burial at the madrasa in Islamabad next to that of his father Maulana Abdullah but asked the government to permit the relatives to attend the burial.

Meanwhile, it has been officially announced that besides Ghazi his mother Lal Bibi, too, died in the operation.

However, his wife Humaira Ghazi and Umme-e-Hassan, the wife of Aziz and his daughter Hamna Abdullah were 'rescued'.

Some reports even said they were released.