Current Final

Category: National

  • FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has served a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for costing the country a whopping Rs690 million (Rs69 crores).

    As per the details, NAB did not deduct 15% withholding tax while paying damages worth over Rs4 billion (Rs4 Arab) in the Broadsheet case.

    The News quoted sources as saying that a notice on behalf of the International Tax Department of FBR under Section 152 of FBR Ordinance was sent to NAB to pay the said amount.

    The notice said it had come to the knowledge of tax department that NAB had paid damages to Broadsheet LLC — the United Kingdom (UK) based company roped in during military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime to track down foreign assets purchased by Pakistani politicians “through looted money”.

    “NAB had to deduct 15% withholding tax and deposit it to the national exchequer at the time of payment under the Income Tax Ordinance, but it was not followed,” it said.

    The fine was paid to the UK-based firm after NAB ended with it the asset recovery agreement in 2003, pushing Broadsheet as a third party to move the London High Court for damages.

    The UK-based companies claimed that Pakistan owed them money according to the terms agreed upon since the government was taking action to seize assets identified by the firm, including the Avenfiled Apartments of the Sharif family.

    After much drama, an arbitration court of London had imposed a $20 million fine on NAB in the Broadsheet case. However, NAB had to pay an extra $9 million under the head of mark-up due to non-payment on time.

    The court in London had withdrawn over $28 million partially in this regard by freezing accounts of the Pakistan High Commission.

  • Father of minor driver in Multan fined Rs 1000

    Father of minor driver in Multan fined Rs 1000

    The father of a minor boy in Multan whose video driving a Land Cruiser SUV went viral on social media on Monday has surrendered to the police. The police had reportedly formed two teams to trace the boy and his parents.

    As per reports, the father came to a police station with his son on Thursday.

    The boy drove the car out of his home without telling his parents, a police official told Samaa TV. The vehicle was seized and the father was booked under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, he added.

    The father was fined Rs 1,000 for negligence. He has also submitted an affidavit to the police stating that the incident occurred due to his negligence and will not happen again.

    The man and his son were allowed to go home after submitting surety bonds.

  • ‘Enraged’ US wants to prosecute acquitted suspects in Daniel Pearl murder case

    The White House has expressed “outrage” that Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the release of an Islamist convicted of beheading American journalist Daniel Pearl.

    Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter, was acquitted by a panel of three judges.

    White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the decision “an affront to terror victims everywhere” and said Washington is “committed to securing justice for Daniel Pearl’s family.”

    At her daily briefing, Psaki called on the Pakistani government to quickly review legal options, including letting the United States prosecute those acquitted.

    The Pakistani court decision comes at a sensitive time in US-Pakistani relations as new President Joe Biden’s administration reviews Afghanistan’s peace process in which Pakistan is a key player.

    SC ORDERS RELEASE OF SHEIKH:

    The Supreme Court dismissed a series of appeals against the acquittal of the British-born militant convicted of masterminding the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, paving the way for his release.

    “The court has come out to say that there is no offence that he has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, who represented Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, told AFP.

    The three-judge bench directed authorities to release Sheikh who was sentenced to death for his role in the plot.

    During the hearing, the Sindh advocate general told the court that the prime suspect has links to banned outfits. He added that the Sindh government submitted sensitive information to the top court in a sealed envelope. At this, the court responded that the evidence submitted by the authorities in the case was not enough to convict Sheikh.

    In a dramatic turn of events on Wednesday, Sheik admitted a “minor” role in the death of Pearl. That testimony was at odds with 18 years of denial about his involvement in the killing.

    A letter handwritten by the accused in 2019, in which he admits limited involvement in the death, was submitted to Pakistan’s Supreme Court nearly two weeks earlier.

    Last month, the United States government had also issued a statement expressing concerns over the acquittal of Sheikh by the Sindh High Court.

    “We are deeply concerned by the reports of the December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl. We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time,” said the State Department in a series of tweets in response to the ruling of the high court.

  • PTI’s likely candidates for Senate elections

    PTI’s likely candidates for Senate elections

    The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) hasn’t announced its nominees for the upcoming Senate elections in March, but many of the party leaders, among them prime minister’s special aides, are vying for the Senate tickets.

    With the elections round the corner, the PTI believes it’s in a comfortable spot to undo the opposition majority in the upper house of parliament, and PM Imran Khan is confident that the post-polls Senate would be dominated by the government and its allied parties.

    Media reports say that PM’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, SAPM Zulfi Bukhari, party’s chief organiser Saifullah Niazi, Ejaz Chaudhry, Dr Zarqa Soharwardi and Tanzeela Imran among others are among the aspirants for Senate.

    Sources also claimed that Firdous Ashiq Awan, special assistant to CM Usman Buzdar, will be a nominee for the Senate seat.

    However, these names have yet to be finalised after a committee to choose the Senate nominees is established and the PM Imran Khan finalises the list and makes it public.  

    If Senate elections are to be held in March’s first week, then the party must choose its candidates and finalise the strategy by mid-February, reports quoted the party leaders as saying.

    BRING TAREEN BACK:

    Recently, PTI lawmaker Raja Riaz had asked the prime minister to make estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen the chairman of the committee formed to choose the candidates for the Senate elections.

    During a parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday with PM Imran Khan in the chair, the PTI lawmaker, who hails from Faisalabad, had said that Tareen’s services for the PTI cannot be ignored and demanded that the senior leader be made the head of the committee.

    He had also asked the PM to include Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Amir Kiyani, and Ijaz Chaudhry in the body formed to choose Senate candidates.

  • Multan: Woman declared dead by hospital returns to life a day later

    Multan: Woman declared dead by hospital returns to life a day later

    A woman pronounced dead at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital has come back to life and walked away a day later.

    According to reports, the woman, who was brought to hospital for a gunshot wound after getting caught in crossfire, was declared dead on Tuesday and is currently being treated for her injuries after spending one night “dead”.

    Doctors are providing her proper treatment and investigating whether declaring her dead was a mistake or if she has really returned to life as in a rare situation called Near Death Experience (NDE).

    In NDE people, for all intents and purposes, die but return to life.

    Nishtar Hospital Emergency Director Dr Amjad Chandio claims the woman was not pronounced dead in the emergency room, but a death certificate was issued by the hospital.

    “It is being investigated whether a blunder was committed and by whom,” he said.

  • HEC allows online exams after ‘violent’ student protests

    HEC allows online exams after ‘violent’ student protests

    A day after several students were injured as a result of a violent protest against on-campus examination outside the University of Central Punjab in Lahore, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has allowed universities across Pakistan to conduct online examinations with “adequate safeguards”.

    In a statement, the HEC said it “already allowed universities to use their discretion to conduct exams, either on-campus or online as long as the chosen mode provides a fair assessment of students’ performance”.

    “Online exams either can be used if the universities administer ‘Open Book Exams’ or establish an invigilation system in a supervised environment. In this mode, universities will also have to use Turnitin software to detect plagiarism. Further, viva/oral exam may be integrated with the assessment where necessary, the statement added.

    The HEC said the universities can hold “on-campus exams under strict compliance” of coronavirus SOPs.

    “Universities may also have to organize make-up classes for two weeks in case students consider the course coverage to be deficient,” it said, adding that assessment of all “courses requiring psychomotor skills, such as medicine, engineering, subjects involving lab/studio work must be held on campus”.

    Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood also shared the HEC decision on his Twitter. He said he was “happy to note that HEC has formally allowed the universities to conduct online exams with adequate safeguards”.

    Sharing a picture of the HEC notification, Mahmood said that the decision would “pave the way for [universities] to devise the right procedures to quickly” hold online exams, adding that “education standards must be kept up.”

    On Tuesday, a student protest outside turned ugly when security guards of a private university baton-charged students after they tried to enter the university and march towards the vice chancellor office. Five of them received injuries, with two in critical condition.

    A day before, the police also used force to disperse the students who had gathered to record their protest against the on-campus examination despite the second wave of coronavirus.

  • Ex-ISI chief was working for India’s RAW?

    Ex-ISI chief was working for India’s RAW?

    The Ministry of Defence has opposed a request seeking removal of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL), saying he had been “interacting with hostile elements” including Indian intelligence agency RAW since 2008 and was likely to be involved in future publications against the interest of Pakistan, Dawn reported.

    The spymaster had landed in trouble after co-authoring a book, “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, with Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in 2018.

    After the book’s publication, the Military Intelligence (MI) had written to the interior ministry to put Durrani’s name on the ECL and the same was done in May 2018. The former spymaster challenged the move in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in 2019.

    In its para-wise comments submitted in response to Durrani’s petition in the IHC on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said the ex-ISI chief’s name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state activities”. It said a perusal of the book The Spy Chronicles revealed that it contained “certain contents concerning [the] national security of Pakistan, being in contravention of the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts, 1923”.

    “It is further highlighted that there are [a] number of such publications on the way, supported by hostile elements which contain content to create misperception, confusions, question marks against the top leadership circles at country level and to target the common people,” reads the ministry’s response.

    It added that Durrani had been “affiliated/interacting with hostile elements especially Indian RAW since 2008”, saying although he had submitted an affidavit “committing to refrain from such activities” to the government, the same had still not been seen “in tangible terms”.

    According to the ministry’s reply, Rule 2(c) of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010, authorised the federal government to prohibit a person from exiting Pakistan for a foreign destination if the said person is involved in “‘acts of terrorism or its conspiracy’, ‘heinous crimes’ and ‘threatening national security’”.

    Moreover, it said Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution clearly stated that the “freedom of movement and freedom of speech are subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by [the] law in the public interest and integrity, security or defence of Pakistan”.

    It said Durrani’s name could not be removed from ECL “at this stage” because inquiries being conducted against him were being finalised. It said the former ISI chief wanted to travel abroad with the intention of participating in international conferences, forums and talks which will have “serious national security implications as evident from the recently published book ‘Honour Among Spies’” — which was also authored by Durrani and published “through Indian publishers/RAW supported elements”, according to the defence ministry.

    “Moreover, the petitioner also appeared on social media on October 12 and 13, 2020, and expressed his views which of course cannot be well received by any patriotic citizen,” the ministry stated, continuing to defend the placement of Durrani’s name on ECL.

    The ex-ISI chief’s petition is expected to be taken up again by the IHC next month.

  • Son of NAB’s ex-prosecutor says worked for Broadsheet-linked firm without pay

    Son of NAB’s ex-prosecutor says worked for Broadsheet-linked firm without pay

     

    Omer Farouk Adam, son of ex-prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau Farouk Adam Khan, says that he worked for a Broadsheet-linked firm in the 2000s as an intern without any monetary benefits.

    Recently, ex-NAB chairman Gen (r) Syed Amjad alleged that Farouk Adam Khan worked for a law firm connected to the asset recovery firm as a consultant after leaving NAB and his son Omer too was employed by David Orchard, who along with Dr Pepper, were legal advisers to Broadsheet, a report in Geo News said.

    Responding to the statement, Farouk Adam Khan told Geo that he did work with Broadsheet, but not for money. “There was nothing secret about it and the internship was without monetary benefits,” he was quoted as saying. “It was a regular limited period internship undertaken with many other law students.”

    Amjad and Farouk had been close associates once, but in 2015, both made statements against each other in a London court over the signing of the agreement with Broadsheet. Amjad accused Farouk of working for Broadsheet and getting his son hired as well, while Farouk said Amjad was “satisfied” with the contract signed in 2000.

    He said NAB didn’t let Broadsheet work properly, adding that the agreement was signed with the firm after due diligence and Amjad’s approval.

    NAB-BROADSHEET CONTRACT:

    Pakistan paid Broadsheet, an asset recovery firm registered in the Isle of Man, Rs4.65bn after the NAB broke an agreement with it three years after it was signed in 2000.

    After its formation in 1999 by then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, NAB approached Broadsheet to recover overseas assets of at least 200 Pakistanis, particularly the Sharif family. However, the deal fell through in 2003, with NAB saying that the recovery firm had stopped investigations; Broadsheet had accused NAB of hampering its probe to locate the offshore assets of Pakistanis.

    The broken accord was the start of an 18-year-long legal battle between the two parties. In 2008, NAB reached a settlement with a former Broadcast LLC official, Jerry James. The bureau paid at least $1.5million to James to settle the case even though the company was being liquidated and the liquidator was not a party to the deal.

    Though NAB claimed it had reached a settlement with Broadsheet, the firm said James had nothing to do with it at the time of the signing of the agreement. The money paid to James didn’t reach the original Broadsheet, its CEO had claimed and filed a case in a UK court for arbitration in the matter in 2012.

    The UK judge decided the matter in favour of Broadsheet, the claimant. It said Broadsheet LLC was entitled to recover damages for the wrongful repudiation of the ARA [asset recovery agreement]. The award declared that James had no authority from the claimant after March 2005 to enter into a settlement agreement with NAB. The judge said the deal was “wrongful and deliberate to financially hurt the original Broadsheet LLC, Isle of Man”.

    The court held that while negotiating with the fraudulent company, NAB representative Ahmer Bilal Soofi was aware that the original company was in liquidation, and he signed the wrongful deal knowingly.

    Finally, the court ordered NAB to pay $21.58m plus interest to Broadsheet LLC in damages over the breach of the agreement. Due to interest rates, the award amount reached $28.7 million by December 2020.

  • UK govt praises Pakistan on 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project

    UK govt praises Pakistan on 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project

    The UK government has appreciated Pakistan for showing global leadership in dealing with climate change with its 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced the Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation Project in 2014 that was monitored by WWF-Pakistan.

    As per details, about 1.6 million native tree species were planted in different cities of Pakistan by WWF in 2019 and about 1.002 million native plants were planted with the provincial forest department, academic institutions, and civil society in 2020. 

    UK House of Lords member Lord Aamer Sarfraz, during a session of the House of Lords on January 25, said that the project is an effort that all Pakistanis can be proud of. 

    “There is no doubt that 2021 is the year of planet Earth, and by the COP26 due to be held later this year, we hope to celebrate more successes from Pakistan,” said Lord Sarfraz. 

    UK Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park also appreciated the initiative and called it a great achievement, which the world can learn from and emulate. 

    He called it “one of the most ambitious tree planting initiatives in the world”. 

    “I absolutely, enthusiastically, commend and celebrate Pakistan’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami initiative and the tens of thousands of jobs that have been created due to the project. It goes to show what is possible and what can be achieved,” said Lord Goldsmith.

  • Supreme Court upholds acquittal of prime suspect in Daniel Pearl murder case

    The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a series of appeals against the acquittal of the British-born militant convicted of masterminding the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, paving the way for his release.

    “The court has come out to say that there is no offence that he has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, who represented Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, told AFP.

    The three-judge bench directed authorities to release Sheikh who was sentenced to death for his role in the plot.

    During the hearing, the Sindh advocate general told the court that the prime suspect has links to banned outfits. He added that the Sindh government submitted sensitive information to the top court in a sealed envelope. At this, the court responded that the evidence submitted by the authorities in the case was not enough to convict Sheikh.

    In a dramatic turn of events on Wednesday, Sheik admitted a “minor” role in the death of Washington Post reporter Pearl. That testimony was at odds with 18 years of denial about his involvement in the killing.

    A letter handwritten by the accused in 2019, in which he admits limited involvement in the death, was submitted to Pakistan’s Supreme Court nearly two weeks earlier.

    Last month, the United States government had also issued a statement expressing concerns over the acquittal of Sheikh by the Sindh High Court.

    “We are deeply concerned by the reports of the December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl. We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time,” said the State Department in a series of tweets in response to the ruling of the high court.

    Pearl was working on a story about religious extremists in Pakistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, when he was kidnapped in Karachi.