DNA

ISLAMABAD, FEB 12: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah reprimanded the police on Friday for not taking action against the lawyers involved in the high court’s February 8 rampage, saying he wants the real culprits to be named.

The recent ransacking of the chamber of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah by the lawyers protesting for the demolishing of their illegal chambers in F8 Markaz Lower Courts was engineered by the lawyers belonging to the opposition parties mainly PML-N.

“Former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary is also active in organising lawyers who not only were involved in this incident of IHC where Chief Justice Athar Minallah was attacked, but will also become a street power for the opposition parties forthcoming long march pitched to start from Karachi on March 26th”.

Prominent and senior lawyers who were not happy on this action of the lawyers said the entire lawyers’ community could not be blamed for the unfortunate incident. “Everyone has the right to protest but what the lawyers did inside the IHC is not at all acceptable,” said a senior lawyer.

Some of the senior lawyers categorically said the opposition parties, mainly PMLN, is behind this ransacking of CJ IHC Chamber. They were of the view that the opposition parties in order to build pressure on the government and to gain public support for their upcoming long march set for 26th March have used the lawyers. “The opposition parties want the lawyers to be an active partner in their upcoming long march like the way they carried the CJ (Retd) Ifthikhar Chaudhry restoration movement,” the senior lawyers opined.

Acknowledging the presence of black sheep in their profession, they said the whole incident at the IHC smacks of a foul play. They said a group of lawyers belonging to the opposition parties especially the PML (N) apparently used the pretext of demolition of their chambers to achieve their ulterior motives.

They said the opposition parties are using different dirty tactics and have unleashed their stooges in different strata of the society including the lawyers to pressurize the government. “Apparently the storming of the IHC building was aimed at destabilizing the government”, they said but regretted that the incident also brought a bad name to the country. They noted such incidents also dent the image of the country at the international level.

Hailing the government for prudently handling the situation, they were of the view that the lawyers’ community may have their political affiliations but should not become part of any conspiracy. They said those engaged in evil plots are bringing bad name to the community and their licenses need to be revoked. They also demanded strict action against those who ransacked the IHC building.

Police have registered a number of FIRs against the lawyers involved in the violence. Twenty one lawyers have been booked and according to a hand out of Islamabad High Court, separate contempt of court proceedings will be initiated against those found guilty of the offence.

It is pertinent to mention here that ever since the culmination of Pakistan Lawyers Movement to the restoration of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhary, the hooliganism of emboldened lawyers is on the rise. The practitioners of law now consider themselves above the law. Once hailed as the heroes are now seen as gangsters because of their never ending episodes of violent and irresponsible conduct. Drunk on power, these lawyers are not even afraid to curse the judicial officers.=DNA

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ISLAMABAD, FEB 12 – The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has finalised the names of most of its nominees for the upcoming Senate election, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Friday.

The list of candidates also includes Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh — who will contest for a seat from Islamabad — and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar, one of the nominees from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Shaikh, who is not a member of Parliament, was previously an adviser to the premier on finance and was appointed as finance minister in December last year. However, as per Article 91 (9) of the Constitution, he cannot remain a minister for more than six months until he is elected to one of the houses. Thus he must be elected to the Senate this time around in order to continue as the finance minister after June.

Nishtar, who is part of the PM’s cabinet as a special assistant, is also not a member of Parliament and therefore ineligible to hold the position of a minister.

Faisal Vawda, the federal minister for water resources, is also amongst the list of nominees. He will be contesting on a seat allocated for Sindh, Chaudhry said.

Here is a complete list of the nominated candidates who have been announced so far, and the seats they will be contesting for:

• Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh: Islamabad
• Fauzia Arshad: Islamabad
• Faisal Vawda: Sindh
• Saifullah Niazi: Punjab
• Dr Zarqa: Punjab
• Barrister Ali Zafar: Punjab
• Abdul Qadir: Balochostan
• Shibli Faraz: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Mohsin Azeez: KP
• Dost Mohammad: KP
• Sania Nishtar: KP
• Farzana: KP
• Saifullah Abro: technocrat

The names of other nominees will be announced later, Chaudhry said in his Twitter post.

The Senate elections will held on March 3, according to a notification from the Election Commission of Pakistan. Candidates for the polls are to file their nomination papers with the returning officer between February 12-13.

The Senate polls will take place in a highly charged political climate, with the opposition parties vowing to overthrow the government while the ruling PTI push for electoral reforms that would enable show of hands during the upper house’s ballots.

As many as 52 senators are set to retire — 50 per cent of the 104-member house — on March 11 after completing their six-year tenure. However, this time there will be no polling for the four seats of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) after its merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Therefore, polling will be held to elect 48 senators — 12 each from KP and Balochistan, 11 each from Punjab and Sindh and two from Islamabad. Polling will be held to elect seven members on general seats, two women and two technocrats in the four provinces. Besides this, the election on one minority seat each in KP and Balochistan will also be conducted.

The ruling party is set to become the single largest party in the Senate after the upcoming elections, but it will certainly not be able to gain control of the upper house of the Parliament and will still have to rely on its allies and opposition parties even for carrying out simple legislation.

KARACHI: Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani has appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi investigators in misuse of power and illegal appointments cases.

The NAB team handed over a questionnaire to the Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in connection with the ongoing probe into illegal appointments in Benazir Bhutto Medical College by misusing power.

The investigation is underway against Durrani and others. Durrani had earlier gotten interim bail in the case. A written response will be submitted to the anti-corruption watchdog by Durrani, sources added.
Earlier on Thursday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had extended interim bail of Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in a case related to illegal appointments.

The SHC judge had directed Agha Siraj Durrani to cooperate with the NAB investigators besides ordering the anti-corruption watchdog to submit a progress report till March 30.

On January 25, Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani had approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) for bail before arrest in the alleged illegal appointments case in the Lyari’s university.

KARACHI: The seventh edition of multinational maritime exercise Aman-2021 commenced with an impressive flag hoisting ceremony in Karachi on Friday.

Commander Pakistan Fleet Rear Admiral Naveed Ashraf was the chief guest of the ceremony while guests from seven allied countries also attended the ceremony as guests of honour.

During the main ceremony, flags of all 45 participating countries were hoisted with Pakistan’s flag in the middle and a navy band playing national anthem.

Commander of 25th Destroyer Squadron Commodore Imtiaz Ali read a message of Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Amjad Khan Niazi.

In his message, the naval chief welcomed the participants of the exercise and said participation from so many countries really describes the motto of the exercise which is ‘Together for Peace’.

He said that Pakistan Navy is ever ready to play a positive role for the peace in the region.

The naval chief said Pakistan Navy has taken several initiatives for maritime security and to promote peace in the waters of the region. One such initiative is Regional Maritime Security Patrol (RMSP) to make the waters safe for maritime activities and keep a check on illegal activities, he added.

Admiral Mohammad Amjad Khan Niazi said these exercises are clear message to all the peace loving countries to join hands for peace. He hoped that the camaraderie expressed here will continue in the future.

Addressing the ceremony, chief guest of the ceremony Commander Pakistan Fleet Admiral Naveed Ashraf said that the exercise aims to promote the security and stability in the region and keep the maritime environment safe from threats.

He said the exercise has two phases, a harbour phase and a sea phase while an international level conference is also part of the event to explore the development of blue economy.