Category: PAKISTAN

13 After a long round of negotiations with the Punjab government, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on Friday early morning called off its protest in Lahore and other cities. Life in Lahore was disrupted on Thursday when TLP leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi ordered his workers to “come out on streets” until the party’s demands were met. The workers had choked the provincial capital’s major roads while smaller protests were also held in other cities of Punjab, including Sialkot, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Kasur, Mandi Bahauddin, Chunia, Multan, Faisalabad and Muzaffargarh. The announcement to end…

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The Supreme Court on Thursday barred the government from proceeding with privatisation of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) without its permission. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar passed the order while hearing a case pertaining to a suo motu notice against sales of national assets on lower prices. Irked by the heavy losses of the national flag-carrier and its proposed privatisation, the chief justice said that he may constitute a judicial commission to calculate and redress the losses incurred upon the airline. “Who is responsible for the loss of Rs360 billion?…

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Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday alleged once again that three members of the joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe his family’s business dealings abroad were “are our worst political opponents”, and expressed fears that Adiala Jail was already being prepared for him. Sharif, along with his daughter Maryam, made the remarks after appearing before an accountability court in Islamabad in a reference concerning his family’s Avenfield properties. “Bit by bit, the reality of the JIT’s investigative report is being revealed,” he said in his customary talk with the media…

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 Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday directed the last two chief ministers of Balochistan — Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and Nawab Sanaullah Zehri — to appear before the apex court and explain what they did for the improvement of governance in the province during their respective tenures. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the CJP, was hearing cases at the court’s Quetta registry regarding the plight of public hospitals and medical colleges, and a doctors’ strike in the province. “Three chief ministers came during one tenure…

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Chairman Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) Mr Ali Raza Syed has said, Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) is most militarized zone of the world, with a large deployment of the occupation security forces. He was addressing meet the press program at Karachi Press Club this week where he was received and warmly welcomed by General Secretary Mr Maqsood Ahmad Yousafi and other office bearers of the club. Referring a recent survey report of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) headed by the eminent human right lawyer Parvez Imroz on terrible situation…

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Despite Rs4 billion being spent on the Punjab government’s Saaf Pani project, not a single drop of clean water has been made available to the citizens, Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed informed the Supreme Court on Sunday. A two-member bench of the SC, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing the suo motu case regarding alleged irregularities in appointments in the Punjab Saaf Pani Company (PSPC) at its Lahore Registry. A day earlier, the company’s CEO had told the court that Rs300 million had been spent on the services…

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1 The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition against the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa as chief justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) and his elevation to the apex court. The petition, filed by Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi, had argued that there exists no provision in the Constitution for direct appointment of the chief justice of a province and the guidance provided in Articles 196 and 200 of the Constitution was not followed (in Justice Isa’s case). The complainant informed the court that according to Article 193…

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Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday called for “political decisions to be taken in polling booths, not in courts” as he took another dig at PML-N’s rivals for getting the party’s former president Nawaz Sharif disqualified and ousted from the PM office. The PM’s remarks come in the wake of his recent meeting with Chief Justice (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar — a rendezvous that had raised many eyebrows in political circles. The meeting, and Justice Nisar’s subsequent referring of the PM as a supplicant, had also irked Sharif, who later publicly…

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The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday fixed separate contempt of court petitions against former premier Nawaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan and former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry for hearing on April 4. Senior lawyer Naseer Ahmed Kayani has filed a petition against Imran Khan, accusing him of committing contempt of court by using derogatory language against former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Riaz Hanif Rahi — the lawyer who has challenged the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court — has filed two separate contempt of court petitions against…

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A visibly emotional Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel laureate in history, couldn’t contain her disbelief upon finally returning home after more than five years away following a Taliban attack in Swat in 2012. “I have dreamed of returning to Pakistan for the past five years,” said a teary Yousafzai in a homecoming speech on Thursday at a function at Prime Minister House in Islamabad. A car carrying Malala Yousafza and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai leaves for Prime Minister House ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in…

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Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday said that if a ‘Bajwa doctrine’ exists its scope is limited just to the security aspect in Pakistan. At a press conference in Rawalpindi, the DG ISPR was asked about the doctrine that bears the incumbent army chief’s name and whose existence was purportedly confirmed in the chief’s recent meeting with some media personnel. “When the media interaction took place, things were lumped together and made a part of the Bajwa doctrine,” said Maj Gen Ghafoor, who had mentioned the said…

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