Category: PAKISTAN

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday ruled in Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Ahmed Rashid’s favour in the misdeclaration of assets case against him, DawnNewsTV reported. A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, rejected the election appeal of Malik Shakeel Awan who had accused Rashid of misdeclaring his assets in the nomination forms that he had submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the general elections in 2013. The SC bench ruled 2-1 in Rashid’s favour, with Justice Isa…

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In a reply submitted to the Supreme Court on Saturday in the Asghar Khan case, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has denied allegations of receiving Rs3.5 million for his 1990 election campaign. Sharif, who is among a number politicians accused of receiving money to contest elections against the PPP, denied the allegations against him, saying that he had never received Rs3.5m or Rs2.5m from either the former director general (DG) of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), retired Lt Gen Asad Durrani, or Mehran Bank’s Younus Habib, or anyone else. The former premier…

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Several hundred university students sit enraptured as Hammad Safi lectures them on the merits of bettering their diction by watching Barack Obama speeches on YouTube. The elegantly dressed motivational speaker is something of an internet sensation and regularly draws large crowds. But it’s not just because of his infectious enthusiasm and engaging smile. It’s also because he’s only 11 years old. Safi speaks into his wireless microphone, his hand gestures practised and his confidence unwavering before the attention of his elders at the University of Spoken English (USECS) in Peshawar.…

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Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday said that former president Pervez Musharraf will not be arrested if he arrives in Pakistan to file his nomination papers for the upcoming general elections. The chief justice was hearing a case filed by Musharraf in 2015 against the rejection of his nomination papers in the 2013 general elections. Musharraf has not visited Pakistan since leaving for Dubai in March 2016. In today’s hearing, Musharraf’s lawyer asked the chief justice to issue a written order saying that the former president must not be arrested if…

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The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced that retired Justice Dost Muhammad Khan will be the caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. Addressing a press conference outside the ECP office in Islamabad, Additional Secretary of ECP, Dr Akhtar Nazeer said that the KP government and Opposition had sent the commission four names to be considered for the post. The JUI-F had proposed Justice Khan’s name along with businessman Manzoor Afridi, whereas PTI had suggested the names of two bureaucrats Ijaz Qureshi and Hamayatullah Khan and retired Justice Dost Muhammad. According…

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A six-member caretaker federal cabinet was sworn in at a ceremony held at the President House, Islamabad on Tuesday. President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the newly inducted members of the cabinet, who will assist the caretaker prime minister, retired Justice Nasirul Mulk, in managing the country till elections are over. Those who took oath today include the State Bank of Pakistan’s former governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Roshan Khurshid, Barrister Ali Zafar, former ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Azam Khan and Muhammad Yusuf Shaikh, Radio Pakistan reported. The…

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Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday took notice of the acquittal of a man earlier convicted for brutally attacking law student Khadija Siddiqui with a knife. Justice Nisar has summoned the case’s record at the apex court’s Lahore registry on Sunday (June 10), according to a press release issued by the Supreme Court. The top judge’s notice comes a day after Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem of the LHC, through a short order, acquitted Shah Hussain of all charges after accepting his appeal against the five-year sentence handed to…

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A two-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Sunday suspended a Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling ordering the revision of the nomination forms to be submitted by candidates for upcoming general elections. LHC Judge Ayesha A. Malik had ruled on Friday that the nomination forms do not include mandatory information and declarations required from lawmakers as per the Constitution and law, and ordered the ECP to ensure this information is included in the revised Form A ─ for election to the NA or Senate ─ and…

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Former chief justice Nasirul Mulk was named as the caretaker prime minister on Monday. The announcement was made by Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah at a press conference in Islamabad following a meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Shah was accompanied by Abbasi and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq at the press conference. PM Abbasi spoke first, describing the agreed-upon candidate for caretaker PM as someone “who no one can object to”. “All the names under consideration were credible,” PM Abbasi said. “Every name was discussed, and this…

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PESHAWAR:The treasury and opposition benches in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assembly have finally agreed over the name of Manzoor Afridi as the incoming caretaker chief minister of the province. The consensus was evolved after much speculation that the slot will be left vacant by K-P Chief Minister Parvez Khattak as the provincial assembly period ends on May 28. According to details, CM Khattak and opposition leader in the provincial assembly Maulana Lutfur Rehman held several sittings, where different names were considered for the slot. However both, Khattak and Rehman could not…

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WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has said had he been the president now, he would have released Dr Shakil Afridi in a “give and take” deal. In an interview to Voice of America’s Greta Van Susteren, Musharraf also noted that relations between the United States and Pakistan were at their “lowest ebb” now. “Well, with a deal, yes. With a deal,” said the retired general when asked if he was the president now, would he release Afridi. “A deal, is a give and take. Yes, indeed it can…

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Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Friday banned TV host and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf member Dr Amir Liaquat from appearing on any TV channel in Pakistan for thirty days after ruling that he had violated several sections of PEMRA Ordinance in a TV programme a day ago. The media regulator, in a notification issued, stated that Liaquat, during his channel’s Ramzan transmission on May 24, had “aired live, un-edited and without any delay” a video call from Gujrat wherein the caller had raised a controversial religious question. PEMRA notes that Dr Liaquat…

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The National Assembly on Thursday passed a constitutional amendment seeking the much-awaited merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with a 229-1 vote in favour. Lawmakers from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chose to walk out from the assembly ahead of the vote. Dawar Kundi from the PTI was the sole dissenting vote in the final count. A session of the Senate has been called on Friday (tomorrow) to review the bill and give assent. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas represent…

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