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Tag: islamabad

  • Hamza Shehbaz files petition to review SC’s verdict declaring Elahi as CM

    Hamza Shehbaz files petition to review SC’s verdict declaring Elahi as CM

    Former Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court (SC) against the apex court’s July 26 verdict, which declared Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the Punjab CM.

    Hamza filed the petition through his lawyer Mansoor Awan in which it has been requested that the SC should review the decision of declaring Pervaiz Elahi as the CM of Punjab and the ruling of former Punjab Assembly (PA) Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari should be declared constitutional.

    The review petition stated that the court in its order had “failed” to appreciate that when a justice signs a judgement, then to the extent that judgement is not expressly controverted in the separate opinion, that justice remains bound by the judgement he has put a signature to, whereas the order makes the inverse and counter-intuitive inference because other aspects were covered in the separately rendered decision.

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader further demanded that a full court be constituted to decide the matters involving the interpretation and application of Article 63-A of the Constitution in this regard.

    Earlier, a three-member bench of the SC declared Mazari’s ruling in the Punjab Chief Minister election “illegal” and ruled that Pervaiz Elahi will be the new CM of the province.

  • ‘Absolutely no truth,’ PTI denies Imran Khan had a video call with US envoy

    ‘Absolutely no truth,’ PTI denies Imran Khan had a video call with US envoy

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan allegedly contacted United States (US) Ambassador Donald Blome via a video call. The alleged video call took place on August 4 (Thursday) around 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm, reports Muhammad Saleh Zaafir for The News.

    However, Shireen Mazari denied these reports and said this is “part of vilification campaign” planned against Imran Khan.

    During the alleged conversation between the US envoy and PTI chief, Khan expressed reservations about the US policy against his then-government in the Centre, reports Khalid Azim Chaudhry for Samaa News. In response, the ambassador said that he has been in the office for only two months. However, he assured Khan that he would convey the message to the Biden administration.

    The video call allegedly took place after the meeting between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan and Donald Blome last week in Peshawar. Blome visited the provincial capital to hand over ambulances to the government. Mahmood Khan reportedly arranged a call between his party chief and the US official.

    Absolutely no truth: Shireen Mazari

    Former federal minister and PTI leader Shireen Mazari denied that there has been any contact between Khan and Blome.

    “There is absolutely no truth in Imran Khan having had any conversation on cell/video link with US envoy Blome. It is part of a vilification campaign planned against IK by an Imported govt terrified of IK politically. We expect more such fake claims and evidence will follow,” tweeted Shireen Mazari.

    “We do not comment on what transpires during private diplomatic meetings like the one between Ambassador Blome and the KP chief minister,” said US Embassy spokesman Nick Hersh.

    Khan blamed the US for his ouster and accused the Biden administration for the success of the vote of no-confidence against him.

  • Islamabad Traffic Police organises internship programme for university students

    Islamabad Traffic Police organises internship programme for university students

    15 students from the 14th batch of the Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST) participated in the internship programme that the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) organised on the directives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

    According to the SP Traffic, during the internship programme, students will be introduced to the various departments and functions, as well as the work related to capital police, including a technical overview, radio production, on-air training and broadcasting, road safety workshops and seminars, licencing overview, on-field operations, awareness, and training related to education.

    Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer, SSP Traffic, stated that Islamabad Capital Police has always regarded students as the most important group and that ITP fully believes that students play a crucial part in the development of any nation.

    He said that the goal of this internship programme was to advance community policing.

    According to the SP Traffic, during the internship programme, students will be introduced to the various departments and functions, as well as the work related to capital police, including a technical overview, radio production, on-air training and broadcasting, road safety workshops and seminars, licencing overview, on-field operations, awareness, and training related to education.

    Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer, SSP Traffic, stated that Islamabad Capital Police has always regarded students as the most important group and that ITP fully believes that students play a crucial part in the development of any nation.

    According to him, the goal of this internship programme was to advance community policing.

  • ECP verdict: Govt decides to place Imran and other PTI leaders on no-fly list

    ECP verdict: Govt decides to place Imran and other PTI leaders on no-fly list

    After the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) verdict was announced yesterday in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) foreign funding case, the coalition government has reportedly decided to put the names of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other PTI leaders on the no-fly list to prevent them from leaving the country. The government has also decided to move the Supreme Court (SC) to hear the reference it is going to file in the wake of the ECP verdict.

    The government will put the names of former premier Imran Khan, ex-governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh and former chairman of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) Zulqarnain Ali Khan on the no-fly list, reports The Express Tribune.

    The government will also request Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to constitute a full court to hear the case, which is yet to be filed, reports Geo News.

    All the government allies were unanimously on board for taking strict legal action in light of the ECP’s verdict.

    PTI to move IHC

    “The PTI will file two different petitions — one contempt of court petition against ECP for violating the Supreme Court and high court’s decisions for not giving verdict against PPP and PML-N together with PTI, whereas the second petition would be filed against the ECP’s decision for having too many loopholes in the verdict,” announced Asad Umar yesterday.

    “People trust Imran Khan and that’s why they sent their money to him when he started the fundraising events. If you block political donations, the only other way is that of powerful people,” he added.

    Just after the decision was announced, PTI leader Fa­­wad Chaudhry said that most of the money was donated by overseas Pakistanis.

    He said that he could not understand why the PML-N, JUI-F and PPP declared overseas Pakistanis as an “enemy”.

    “We consider overseas Pakistanis to be the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and will continue to rely on them for our funding,” said Fawad. About the certificates that were submitted to the ECP by Khan, Fawad said that these certificates were made by the auditors and Khan had just signed them so the responsibility cannot be put on Imran.

    The former premier had personally issued certificates to the ECP in regards to Article 13(2) of the PPO to the effect that PTI “does not receive funds from prohibited sources”, meaning thereby that the PTI is not a foreign-aided political party.

    On Tuesday, the ECP said that PTI received ‘prohibited funds’ from 34 foreign nationals. The PTI was issued a show-cause notice after the unanimous verdict by a three-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.

  • Poliovirus detected in sewage samples from 7 cities in Pakistan

    Poliovirus detected in sewage samples from 7 cities in Pakistan

    Pakistan’s federal authorities have confirmed the presence of the poliovirus in seven cities after samples were collected from various cities in the country. The presence of the poliovirus was confirmed in the samples collected from Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Bannu, Nowshera and Swat.

    Lahore and Islamabad were declared polio-free in April 2021.

    Federal Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel said in a statement that the government was committed to eradicating polio and had established a strategy to do so.

    “We have been taking steps to control the virus in seven cities that have reported positive environmental samples. I appeal to the parents to make sure that their children are vaccinated during every polio campaign,” said Qadir Patel.

    Read more – Shehbaz Sharif, Bill Gates discuss anti-polio campaign

    In order to raise awareness about the virus, the health ministry also solicited collaboration with civil society, religious scholars, academics and the media.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

  • Religious minorities allotted sites for burials, cremation

    Religious minorities allotted sites for burials, cremation

    The National Assembly (NA) was told that all religious minorities living in Islamabad have been allotted burial sites, reports Dawn.

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah informed the House about this development. He said that all religious minorities have been given cremation grounds and graveyards in the capital.

    About the Hindu community, he said that they have been given grounds in the H-9 sector of the capital. The Buddhist community also has its cremation grounds in this sector.

    Other religious minorities including Christians, Baháʼís and Ahmadis have their graveyards in the same sector.

    The House was told that there is no demand for new sites but if the religious communities will demand more sites, it will be allotted to them.

  • 2,157 cases of diarrhoea reported in Islamabad

    2,157 cases of diarrhoea reported in Islamabad

    As per sources of the National Institute of Health (NIH), 2,157 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in Islamabad in the past one month, reports ARY.

    However, no death has been reported due to diarrhoea.

    Most cases have been reported in Poly Clinic Hospital Islamabad. A total of 991 cases were reported in the hospital last week. Out of which, 324 cases were reported in children.

    A total of 245 cases were reported in PIMS hospital in the last week.

    However, 90 per cent of the patients were not hospitalised.

    In addition, Islamabad also reported 21 cases of cholera this season.

  • ‘If I am stopped from entering Punjab, this will be the beginning of Governor Raj,’ threatens Rana Sanaullah

    ‘If I am stopped from entering Punjab, this will be the beginning of Governor Raj,’ threatens Rana Sanaullah

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah warned that if he is stopped from entering Punjab, it will be the beginning of Governor Raj.

    “The summary to impose Governor’s Rule is being drafted, and I — personally — have started work on it,” said Rana while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

    PTI leaders had suggested banning Rana Sanaullah’s entry into Punjab after winning Punjab by-elections.

    Rana Sanaullah also said that the political situation has worsened due to the decision of the Supreme Court.

    Sanaullah added that after the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan was successful, the PML-N proposed moving towards early elections, indicating that the coalition partners did not agree.

    He also added that once the general elections are announced, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will come back to the country and lead the election campaign.

    “But now, the federal government is a government of coalition partners, and this coalition has formed governments in Sindh and Balochistan. The federal government has its own significance,” he said.

  • Coalition govt should name their favourite judges: Sheikh Rasheed

    Coalition govt should name their favourite judges: Sheikh Rasheed

    Former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed condemned the coalition government for calling Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial’s bench a “fixed bench”. Yesterday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz said that bench-fixing is a crime like match-fixing.

    Sheikh tweeted that “no-confidence should be submitted against [Prime Minister] Shehbaz Sharif”, adding that after the army, the Supreme Court (SC) is now being targeted.

    He asked the coalition government to name their “favourite judges”. Rasheed also claimed that the PML-N is running away from elections.

    Prior to the SC hearing on the matter of the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) election, the coalition government held a joint press conference.

    The government demanded a full court bench but the SC rejected this demand. On Monday, it was announced that all political parties in the coalition will boycott court proceedings till a full bench is constituted.

  • New CM Punjab: Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi

    New CM Punjab: Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi

    Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is now the chief minister (CM) of Punjab as per the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Punjab CM election case.

    The apex court has directed Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman to administer oath to Pervaiz Elahi by 11:30pm tonight.

    Punjab CM election: Supreme Court to announce verdict in a while

    In a plea filed by PML-Q’s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the Supreme Court (SC) heard the case regarding Chief Minister (CM) Punjab election and reserved its decision.

    The plea was filed against the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker’s ruling on the day of the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) election (July 22).

    The top court will announce the final verdict at 5:45pm today.

    A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial was hearing the case.

    Punjab CM election: PPP and Mazari’s lawyers excuse themselves from SC hearing

    Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) lawyers have declined to participate in the Supreme Court (SC) proceedings as they had demanded a full court bench in the case pertaining to the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) election.

    Deputy Speaker Mazari’s counsel Irfan Qadir told the bench that his client had told him not to be part of the proceedings. PPP lawyer Farooq H. Naek also came to the rostrum and informed Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial that he would not be part of the proceedings.

    At this, the CJP told him that he “is not a party in the case”.

    Coalition govt to boycott court proceedings if full bench not constituted

    All political parties in the coalition announced that they will boycott court proceedings till a full bench is constituted.

    Announcing the decision, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that since the coalition government’s request for the formation of a full court bench was rejected, they have also rejected this decision of the court.

    “We will not appear before this bench and will boycott it.”

    Punjab CM case: Full court bench rejected

    The Supreme Court has rejected the request for a full court bench.

    Earlier today, the coalition government had demanded the formation of a full court bench in the case pertaining to Punjab chief minister election.

    The three-member SC bench will resume hearing the deputy speaker Punjab Assembly case tomorrow (July 26) at 11am.

    More legal clarification needed, CJP Bandial on the formation of full court bench

    Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has said that the court will decide whether to form a full court bench or not after listening to more legal clarification.

    The top court has also said it is uncertain whether the decision on the formation of a full bench will be made today or not.

    CJP also remarked that if the situation gets out of hand will we make full bench court.

    Full court bench can only be formed in September

    During today’s hearing, CJP Bandial remarked that the full court bench can only be formed in September, questioning that should all work be stopped till then?

    ‘If there is no full court bench, we will boycott the proceedings’: Rana Sanaullah

    Prior to the SC’s decision on the formation of full court bench, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that “if the Supreme Court does not form a full court bench, we will boycott the proceedings.” He added that if the full court is not formed then Hamza Shehbaz will not become a party in this case.

    Rana Sanaullah gave a reference, he said that in 2015 eight judges had given a decision regarding the party chief.

    Along with Rana, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the way the constitution has been interpreted, it is beyond understanding.

    Supreme Court reserves verdict on formation of full court bench

    After a joint press conference by the members of the ruling coalition and requests made by SCBA and lawyers, the top court has reportedly reserved its verdict on the formation of a full court bench. The hearing has been adjourned till 5:30pm.

    PTI’s leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the top court will announce whether they are hearing the petition or a full court bench. Taking a jibe at the government and its coalition partners’ lawyers, Chaudhry said that they didn’t have any solid arguments.

    The Supreme Court (SC) has resumed its hearing on a plea filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s petition challenging Punjab Assembly (PA) Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari’s decision in the Chief Minister (CM) run-off election on July 22.

    SC resumes the hearing

    A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial along with Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, is holding the hearing at SC’s Room 1.

    On Saturday, the top court said that Hamza Shehbaz would work as trustee CM till Monday and adjourned the hearing.

    Petition on Article 63-A should be heard: Ahsan Bhoon

    Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Ahsan Bhoon requested the Supreme Court on Sunday to take up the Bar’s already filed review petition against the “short judgment passed by the apex court” on May 17 in the presidential reference over the interpretation of Article 63-A.

    Bhoon underlined that it was the right time for the apex court to take up the SCBA petition and decide the matter once and for all “so that no one dares to point finger towards the apex court”.

    “What’s the hurry Bhoon Sahab, let us hear this case first,” said CJP Bandial during today’s proceedings.

    The bench called former SCBA head Advocate Latif Afridi who said that the country’s current political situation is “very complicated” at the moment and requested a full court bench.

    Elahi’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar said the Bar presidents should not be involved in such matters.

    The deputy speaker’s lawyer, Irfan Qadir, also requested the court to constitute a full bench. At this, the CJP asked him the grounds on which a full court bench should be constituted.

    Qadir requested the bench to read paragraphs one and two of its decision on the presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A, stating that everything would then be clarified.

    Law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar informed the court that he has received some important information. At this, the top court asked him to sit. The court also directed Hamza’s lawyer Mansoor Awan not to take directions from Tarar.

    SC shouldn’t be blackmailed: Fawad Chaudhry

    While talking to the media, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said that PTI has no issue with a full court bench.

    “The party has reservations that SC shouldn’t be blackmailed. Otherwise, it is up to the chief justice to make a full court bench,” said Chaudhry.

    SC hearing on Punjab CM election: Political leaders banned to enter court

    Before the hearing, all the political leaders were banned from entering SC for the hearing on the matter of the election of the Punjab CM. Strict security arrangements were also being made

    An official of the Islamabad police said only leaders of respondent parties would be allowed to enter the court premises with the permission of the SC administration. He added that political parties had provided lists of leaders in this regard.

    “No rally, procession, or gathering will be allowed in the Red Zone, including around the Supreme Court”, he said.*