Tag: court

  • Missing person returns home after court warning

    Missing person returns home after court warning

    Haseeb Hamza, who had reportedly gone “missing” in August has been produced before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by the police, a day after the court issued a strict warning to the police and intelligence agencies to locate him by Wednesday.

    His father, Zulfikar Ali, told the court that his son phoned him in the morning to inform him that he was near the Shifa International Hospital in the capital.

    During the hearing today (Wednesday), IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Justice Minallah asked Haseeb where he had been, to which he replied that he was blindfolded at the time he was taken and had no knowledge of where he was.

    Haseeb’s father had filed a petition in IHC, which stated that on the night between August 22 and August 23, around 20 people — 15 of them in black uniforms — entered his house without a warrant and whisked away his son along with a laptop computer, five mobile phones and some documents.

    After Hamza’s return, Justice Minallah ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to conduct an investigation into the kidnapping case and to submit a report to the registrar of the high court by September 22.

    ’Produce missing person by tomorrow, else intelligence services must appear at court’, Court directs police

    A day earlier, Justice Minallah gave strict orders to find Hamze by 10am tomorrow (Wednesday).

    The court also added that if the person is not produced by tomorrow, sector commanders of Military Intelligence (MI), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Special Branch and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) must appear before the court.

    His father Zulfikar Ali filed a petition in which he said his son was picked up from their home on August 22. According to him, he filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the time but all in vain.

    Zulfikar had said that his son was a labourer who worked in Layyah in Punjab.

    The IGP duly appeared before the court and confirmed that FIR had been lodged.

    Moreover, the petition said that the police say that Haseeb is with the intelligence agencies.

    Justice Minallah said that under an earlier court verdict IGP and other concerned officials should be held responsible for the disappearance of a citizen.

    Earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif appeared before IHC and assured the court that all-out efforts will be made to recover missing persons.

    “I cannot say that all of the missing persons will be recovered, but we will leave no stone unturned”, he had promised.

  • Twitter sues Indian government over content removal directives

    Twitter sues Indian government over content removal directives

    Twitter has sued the Indian government to challenge some of its takedown orders, a source familiar with the matter revealed, further escalating the tension between the American social giant and India.

    In its lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Karnataka High Court, Twitter alleges that New Delhi has abused its power by ordering it to remove several tweets from its platform.

    The lawsuit follows a rough year and a half for Twitter in India, a key overseas market for the firm, where it has been asked to take down hundreds of accounts and tweets, many of which critics argue were objected because they denounced the Indian government’s policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Twitter partially complied with the requests but sought to fight back against many challenges. Under India’s new IT rules, which went into effect last year, Twitter has little to no room left to individually challenge the takedown orders.

    The tension between the two was apparent on May 24 last year, when Delhi police, controlled by India’s central government, visited two offices of Twitter — in the national capital state of Delhi and Gurgaon, in the neighboring state of Haryana — to seek more information about Twitter’s rationale to label one of the tweets by ruling partly BJP spokesperson as “manipulated media.”

    Delhi police said it had received a complaint about the classification of the spokesperson’s tweet and visited the offices to serve Twitter India’s head a notice of the inquiry. In a statement, the police said Twitter India’s managing director’s replies on the subject had been “very ambiguous.”

    Twitter at the time described the episode as “intimidation.”

    The company has “concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules,” it said.

    Twitter India managing director resigned from the firm last year.

    Twitter is not the first tech giant to sue the Indian government. WhatsApp sued New Delhi last year, challenging new regulations that could allow authorities to make people’s private messages “traceable,” and conduct mass surveillance.

    It’s unclear if the new lawsuit will impact Twitter’s proposed acquisition by Elon Musk.

  • ‘Produce missing persons or appear before court’: IHC sends notice to Musharraf, IK, PM Shehbaz

    ‘Produce missing persons or appear before court’: IHC sends notice to Musharraf, IK, PM Shehbaz

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the government to issue notices to former President General Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and the current PM Shehbaz Sharif for following an “undeclared tacit approval of the policy regarding enforced disappearances.”

    The court directed that the federal government shall produce the missing persons before the court on June 17 or justify the failure of the state to effectively investigate.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah said, “Musharraf and all other successor chief executives [PM Shehbaz and Khan] shall submit their respective affidavits explaining why the court may not order proceedings against them for alleged subversion of the Constitution in the context of undeclared tacit approval of the policy regarding enforced disappearances and thus putting national security at risk by allowing the involvement of law enforcement agencies, particularly the armed forces.”

    The court also noted that the involvement or even a perception of the involvement of the armed forces in acts “amounting to a violation of human rights and freedom of the citizens weakens and undermines the rule of law.”

    On Sunday, the high court issued a 15-page order in a case related to the disappearance of journalist Mudassar Mahmood Naro and five other people after their petitions were in their final phases, but the federal government requested an “adjournment.”

    The court also noted the fact that how the Pakistani media ignores this form of abuse and that reporting on the matter is not a priority. Moreover, the court also expressed dissatisfaction over the role of parliament in regard to the disappearances. It said that “they are the most important and crucial organs of the state but nothing has been placed on record to indicate that they may have adopted a proactive role to fulfill their Constitutional obligations.”

    Journalist Mudassar has been missing since 2018 from Khyber Pakhtunkhua.

  • Musk sued for stock manipulation during Twitter takeover bid

    Musk sued for stock manipulation during Twitter takeover bid

    The most controversial billionaire Elon Musk has been sued by Twitter Inc shareholders, who claim he manipulated the company’s stock price downward, as the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Inc mounts a $44 billion buyout offer for the social media platform.

    According to the investors, Musk saved $156 million by failing to disclose that he had acquired more than 5 per cent of Twitter by March 14. They requested class certification and an unknown amount of punitive and compensatory damages.

    They also named Twitter as a defendant, claiming the company owed them an investigation into Musk’s behaviour, though they are not seeking monetary damages from the company.

    As per the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court, the investors claimed Musk continued to buy stock after that and eventually disclosed in early April that he owned 9.2 per cent of the company.

    “By delaying his disclosure of his Twitter stake, Musk engaged in market manipulation and purchased Twitter stock at an artificially low price,” the investors, led by Virginia resident William Heresniak, claimed. Requests for comment were not immediately returned by Musk or his lawyer.

    The recent drop in Tesla’s stock has put Musk’s ability to finance his acquisition of Twitter in “major jeopardy,” according to the investors, because he has pledged his shares as collateral to secure the loans he needs to buy the company.

    Tesla’s stock was trading around $713 per share on Thursday afternoon, down from over $1,000 in early April. According to the Wall Street Journal, the timing of Musk’s disclosure of his stake has already triggered an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    The SEC demands any investor who purchases more than 5% of a company’s stock to disclose their assets within 10 days of crossing the limit.

    The investors also claimed that Musk’s public criticism of the company, such as a May 13 tweet stating that the buyout was “temporarily on hold” until Twitter proved that spam bots accounted for less than 5% of its users, amounted to an attempt to drive the share price even lower.

    Musk pledged an additional $6.25 billion in equity financing to fund his bid for Twitter on Wednesday, indicating that he is still working to close the deal.

    Earlier this month, the tech mogul was sued in Delaware Chancery Court by a Florida pension fund, which sought to halt the transaction on the grounds that some other large Twitter shareholders were supporting the buyout, which is a violation of Delaware law. The lawsuit filed by Heresniak does not seek to halt the takeover.

  • Parents sue son for money they spent on raising him, having no grandchild

    Parents sue son for money they spent on raising him, having no grandchild

    In India, an elderly couple is suing their son and his wife for failing to provide them with a grandchild.

    Sanjeev and Sadhana Prasad claim to have spent all of their savings on their pilot son’s education and an extravagant wedding. They now seek retribution.

    “My son has been married for six years but they are still not planning a baby,” the parents said in their petition filed with a court in Haridwar last week. “At least if we have a grandchild to spend time with, our pain will become bearable.”

    Thy are seeking a compensation of more than Rs one crore, twenty five lakh from the couple if they are unable to have a child within the next year.

    The parents spent $65,000 (12532734.50 PKR) to get their son trained as a pilot in the US only for him to return to India unemployed. Mr Prasad claims that he is suing his son because he married in 2016 with the “hopes of having a grandchild.” He also claims that his daughter-in-law and her family have financial control over his son and have prohibited them from having a kid.

    “We also had to take a loan to build our house and now we are going through a lot of financial hardships,” the couple said in their petition. “Mentally too we are quite disturbed because we are living alone.”

    Mr Prasad and his wife are seeking compensation for financial and emotional losses, according to AK Srivastava, the lawyer representing them.

    “The couple has the freedom to not give birth to a child, which is why we are asking to be compensated. The amount is the money Mr Prasad has spent on his son’s upbringing,” said their lawyer.

  • After hijab, college in India asks Sikh girl to remove turban

    After hijab, college in India asks Sikh girl to remove turban

    A college in Bengaluru, India, has asked a Sikh girl to remove her turban in accordance with the order of the court, Hindustan Times reported. However, the 17-year-old Sikh girl who was asked to take off her turban refused to do so.  

    The college, while citing Karnataka High Court’s orders, has asked Muslim as well as Sikh students to abide by the rules. As per the the Karnataka High Court’s order, students should “refrain from wearing saffron shawls, scarfs, hijab, religious flags, or the likes within the classroom until further orders” in institutes that have “prescribed the student dress code/uniforms”.

    The family of the girl has responded and said that “the order does not mention anything about the Sikh turban”.

  • Gloria Jeans and La Montana closed due to court order

    Gloria Jeans and La Montana closed due to court order

    A month after the closure of Monal Restaurant, the Ministry of Climate Change and Pakistan Environment Protection Agency issued notices to two other hilltop eateries, La Montana and Gloria Jeans, to immediately stop operating in the National Park.

    The restaurants were established without environmental approvals while the managements didn’t provide plans for solid waste management, sewerage water, and drinking water supply despite several notices.

    “The Islamabad High Court, in its orders dated January 11, 2021, observed that protection of ecosystems and natural habitat is a constitutional obligation of the state, its institutions, and public dignitaries,” it stated. “The destruction of the national park is violative of the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan and saving it from harm is the inviolable duty of the State.”

    The notification issued under section 16 (2) of EPA Act 1997 cited.

    The law permits:

    • Immediate to stoppage, preventing, lessening or controlling the discharge, emission, disposal, handling, act or omission, or to minimize or remedy the adverse environmental effect.
    • Installation, replacement or alteration of any equipment or thing to eliminate or control or abate on a permanent or temporary basis, such discharge, emission, disposal, handling, act or omission.
    • Action to remove or otherwise dispose of the effluent, waste, air pollutant, noise, or hazardous substances.
    • Action to restore the environment to the condition existing prior to such discharge, disposal, handling, act or omission, or as close to such condition as may be reasonable in the circumstances, to the satisfaction of the Federal Agency or Provincial Agency.

    Last month, the Islamabad High Court ordered authorities to seal Islamabad’s Monal Restaurant.

    The National Park’s land belongs to the state and no commercial activities can be carried out here, the court ruled.

  • Usman Mirza Case: Court rejects acquittal plea of co-accused

    Usman Mirza Case: Court rejects acquittal plea of co-accused

    A court in Islamabad on Monday rejected the acquittal plea filed by Umar Bilal, a co-suspect, in the couple harassment case. Umar Bilal filed an application seeking his acquittal, after the female victim in the case retracted her statement.

    The verdict was announced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Atta Rabbani. The court observed that the trial has entered its final phase.

    Read more- Follow up: What happened in the Usman Mirza case?

    The state is pursuing prosecution in the case, as the victims retracted their statements and refused to recognise the accused people.

    On January 11, the female victim refused to identify any of the accused and said she does not want to pursue the case. However, a journalist reported that the couple has reportedly taken one crore rupees from Usman Mirza.

    The case was highlighted last year in July, when a video of Usman Mirza harassing a couple went viral on social media.

  • Man takes TV channel to court for showing too much ‘negative news’

    Man takes TV channel to court for showing too much ‘negative news’

    A man in Russia has sued a local TV channel for leaving him “shook” by covering too much negative news and now he has to visit a psychologist for his mental well-being.

    “Perviy Kanal has infringed on my rights as a citizen,” Igor Mirzoev alleged. Russian state-controlled media outlet, RT, reported the news on Thursday.

    In his complaint, Mirzoev mentioned he was “forced to start seeing a psychologist because his general psychological state and emotional stability were disrupted.”

    Mirzoev claimed he started suffering from “panic attacks and intrusive thoughts”.

    Read More: Maulana Tariq Jameel meets his lookalike

    The psychologist concluded Mirzoev was frequently watching Perviy Kanal’s content for several years, which, according to the complaint, “was dominated by negative news”.

    In an analysis submitted to the court, 78.2 per cent of the broadcaster’s coverage was deemed to be “devoted to crimes, military conflicts and man-made disasters”.

    “Mirzoev is now demanding $135,000 for moral damage, in addition to nearly $7,000 to pay for his psychologist’s bill, required to restore his psychological well-being,” RT reported.

    A judge is set to hear the claim.

  • Three men sentenced to death for gang raping teenager in Kasur

    A gender-based violence court on Thursday sentenced three men to death for the gang-rape of a mentally challenged minor girl, reported Dawn.

    As per reports, the court also imposed a fine to compensate the family of the survivor.

    The accused abducted a 13-year-old girl from Eisanagar on Aug 21, 2019, held her at a deserted house and raped her. Locals and family found her at the house of Javed, one of the four accused, after they heard the girl crying.

    Read More: Four missing girls ‘escape abduction from prostitute dealers’

    The survivor’s father filed an FIR at the B-Divison police station near Essa Nagri. The suspects were arrested after their DNA reports confirmed the rape.

    Two years later in 2021, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sajawal Khan awarded the death penalty to Javed, Shaimoon Masih and Haroon Masih and acquitted Younis by giving him the benefit of the doubt.