Tag: Lahore High Court

  • Lahore police on high alert as TLP demand the release of Saad Rizvi

    Lahore police on high alert as TLP demand the release of Saad Rizvi

    Lahore police were put on high alert on Wednesday after the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) resumed protest activities by staging a massive sit-in on Multan Road near its headquarters at Masjid Rehmatul-lil-Aalemeen, for the release of TLP chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, son of late Khadim Rizvi.

    Rizvi is detained by the Punjab government since April 12 for “maintenance of public order (MPO)”. He was initially detained for three months and then again under the Anti-Terrorist Act on July 10. A federal review board is scheduled to take up the government’s reference against him on October 23, reports Dawn.

    A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) is yet to be constituted to hear an appeal of the government against a decision of a single bench that had set aside the detention of the TLP leader.

    Earlier, the TLP took out a massive rally on 12th of Rabiul Awal (Tuesday), where its senior leaders delivered fiery speeches, accusing the government of using delay tactics in releasing Saad Rizvi.

  • LHC asks Punjab Govt to submit report over ‘discriminatory’ behaviour towards transgenders

    LHC asks Punjab Govt to submit report over ‘discriminatory’ behaviour towards transgenders

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued notices to the Punjab government, chief secretary, and inspector general ordering them to submit a report on Punjab police’s “discriminatory” actions toward transgender people, Arshad Ali reports for Samaa News.

    “Articles 4, 18, and 25 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, provide a shield against any kind of discrimination especially in respect to a job or profession to earn a livelihood but the act of the respondents not to permit transgender persons to compete with the other applicants offends against the said provisions of the Constitution,” the court observed.

    Sira Ashi, a transgender woman from Lahore, filed a court suit against the police earlier this month. She claimed that despite meeting all conditions, the Punjab police have been “discriminatory” in their treatment of transgender people by refusing to hire them.

    The court also noted that the Transgender Persons Act, 2018, is not being implemented by public functionaries during the recruitment process. “Let notices be issued to the respondents (Punjab government, chief secretary, and inspector-general) with the direction to file their report before the next date of hearing,” Justice Khan directed.

  • Pakistan judiciary’s missed moment

    September 9, 2021, could have been a historic day for Pakistan had Justice Ayesha Malik of the Lahore High Court (LHC) been elevated to the Supreme Court (SC). Unfortunately, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) could not elevate the first woman judge to the country’s highest court due to an equal split in voting with four votes in her favour and four against her elevation. An elevation requires a majority vote by JCP members. Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is also part of the JCP, could not attend the meeting as he was out of the country for his wife’s medical treatment. He could have voted in writing or through a video link.

    According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), Pakistan is the only nation in South Asia to have never had a female Supreme Court judge. HRW also says that only about four percent of Pakistan’s High Court judges are women. “Of the 3,005 Pakistani judges in the lower and higher courts, only 519 – or 17 percent – are women.”

    It just shows how — like other professions in the country — the legal fraternity, too, suffers from gender imbalance and gender inequality. It is unfortunate that an institution that has to dispense justice to society is bereft of doing justice to the women in the legal fraternity. If a woman judge cannot make it to our top court, how are we to expect a just system for women who face extensive abuse in the country? When there is so much sexism in the country, so much misogyny all around us, a woman making it to our top court would have given us some confidence in our systems, in our institutions. It is a sad reflection of our society that when it comes to equal participation of women in courts, men get to decide their fate. Not one single member of the JCP is a woman. The decision-making for such high offices is left in the hands of a few men. 

    Some in the legal fraternity say that the process of judges’ appointments is problematic and should be more transparent instead of a pick and choose a principle that is being applied at the moment. We hope that the judiciary and bars and the legal fraternity will address these issues, resolve them and also make sure that women are equally represented in Bars as well as the judiciary. And we hope that Justice Ayesha Malik will be nominated again to the apex court. It is the 21st century and our judiciary should not be seen as a boy’s club. More power to Justice Ayesha Malik!

  • Justice Ayesha not elevated to the Supreme Court

    The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has not approved the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik as a Supreme Court (SC) judge.

    “As a lawyer, I feel that the JCP needed to set a transparent criteria for appointment, failing which has resulted in what we have seen today. And I feel that the more unstructured this becomes, more transparency is lost within the judicial system,” lawyer Noor Ejaz told The Current.

    “As a woman, I am disappointed. Women in law have rarely been given high ranks without being under strict scrutiny. I hope Justice Ayesha serves as the CJ of the Lahore High Court and is elevated to the Supreme Court soon and I hope the JCP implements a structure so that other women can aspire towards higher office without fearing how discretion might treat them,” added Noor Ejaz

    “It is a dark day because first-time nominee of a woman judge’s elevation to the Supreme Court could not be approved,” senior journalist Hasnaat Malik told The Current.

    He also added that if Justice Ayesha is not elevated to the SC, then she will become Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court. “Justice Ayesha’s name can be initiated anytime for the SC,” said Hasnaat.

    Read more- In-depth analysis: Everything you need to know about Justice Ayesha Malik’s SC appointment

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. However, lawyers across the country recorded their protest today.

    As per the Lahore High Court website, Justice Ayesha Malik completed her education from Paris and New York and did her Senior Cambridge from the Karachi Grammar School in Karachi. She did her A-Levels from the Francis Holland School for Girls in London. She assumed office in March 2012

  • Justice Ayesha Malik makes history, first woman judge elevated to the Supreme Court

    Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed has nominated Justice Ayesha A. Malik for the elevation to the Supreme Court, tweeted senior journalist Hasnaat Malik.

    Justice Ayesha will be the first woman judge in the history of Pakistan to be elevated to the Supreme Court.

    She will become the first woman Chief Justice of Pakistan after Justice Yahya’s retirement in January 2030.

    Justice Ayesha A. Malik is one of the only two women judges in the 40 esteemed judges of the Lahore High Court. According to Women in Law, a group working for equal opportunities for women lawyers in Pakistan, only 15 per cent of women judges are part of the Pakistani judiciary.

    Justice Ayesha Malik’s name came to fame after her landmark judgment against the ‘two-finger test’ or two-finger virginity test of sexual assault survivors.

    Justice Ayesha Malik, 54, received her early education from Karachi Grammar School and her LLM degree from Harvard Law School in the United States, after which she returned to Karachi to practice law.

  • Court directs judicial officers to avoid using social media

    Court directs judicial officers to avoid using social media

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued a code of conduct for judicial officers across Punjab, directing them to avoid using social media, reports Dawn.

    The instructions come days after Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti took oath as the 51st LHC chief justice.

    The court has taken notice of those displaying misconduct and asked officials to adhere to the given instructions.

    “A judicial officer is supposed to lead a reserved social life, therefore, he should avoid using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and such other social media applications,” the order said.

    It also barred judicial officers from being included in “unofficial WhatsApp groups” and other “social media modes”, along with sharing of “privileged” information. The use of mobile phones during court hours, apart from during intervals, was also prohibited.

    “Keeping and displaying a blue light on an official or private vehicle of any judicial officer, or putting green plates on private vehicles shall also amount to misconduct and shall be strictly dealt with.”

    It added that judicial officers were bound to strictly observe punctuality and wear an official uniform.

    The court warned that if a judicial officer is found violating the instructions issued, strict disciplinary action will be taken and the misconduct would also be added to their personal file, which will be considered during the time of their promotion.

  • LHC acquits couple sentenced to death for blasphemy

    In a landmark judgement, The Lahore High Court has acquitted a Christian couple who was on death row for seven years on the charges of alleged blasphemy.

    “I have to confess that after the justices had given their verdict I wept,” the lawyer of the acquitted couple told Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

    “There were times when I wondered if, after so long, justice would ever prevail in this case,” he added.

    The couple’s lawyer said that the case against the couple was always weak. “Who is responsible for taking eight years for justice to prevail?”

    The couple was arrested in 2013, under Section 295C on the charge of sending alleged blasphemous text messages.

  • Brothers at odds: Is Nawaz delaying Shehbaz’s trip to London?

    Brothers at odds: Is Nawaz delaying Shehbaz’s trip to London?

    After the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) exit from the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), questions about the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) policy are being asked. Is the party going to go with the younger Sharif’s policy of reconciliation or the older’s more aggressive stance? After it was apparent that the majority in the party had disregarded Shehbaz’s point of view, questions arose about why Shehbaz was not pushing to go to London and get his name removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).

    Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz’s spokesperson Mohammad Zubair denied that Nawaz had anything to do with Shehbaz’s silence on going to London after Anchor Shahzeb Khanzada asked if the older brother had told Shehbaz not to come to London.

    Khanzada asked Zubair: “Has Nawaz Sharif accepted that resistance is the only way to reconciliation and there is no need for Shehbaz to travel to London or hold his feet and ask him to return for the sake of national interest?”

    Zubair responded that it would be wrong to say that Nawaz and told Shehbaz not to come to London. “The lawyers are reviewing the case of Shehbaz Sharif to remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL). The matter is being reviewed from both political and legal aspects,” he said, “This has nothing to do with Nawaz Sharif giving a message that you [Shehbaz Sharif] need not come to London.”

    Zubair added that Shehbaz travels to London every year for his medical treatment.

    In May, the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted conditional permission to Shehbaz to travel abroad for medical treatment. When his lawyers appeared in court, no reference of his ailment was mentioned.

    While talking to Kamran Khan on Dunya News, Shehbaz said, “Reconciliation is still possible; it’s never too late. Nawaz Sharif would be more than willing to do this, I guarantee you.” 

    He further added, “I am sure he [Nawaz Sharif] will promote national interest if there is a level playing field. Even if I have to hold his feet for national interest, I will do so because it is my national duty. I am a Pakistani first and then anything else.”

    Some senior analysts suggest that there is no political rift between the Sharif brothers. However, there are serious concerns within the PML-N that the party may face a split in the future due to the differences between Maryam Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif.

    On Saturday, Maryam Nawaz said that “power talks to power”. She said that if there is muzaahmat (resistance), only then will there be mufaahmat (reconciliation).

    Maryam camp believes in taking forward Nawaz Sharif’s narrative while Shehbaz Sharif camp believes in reconciliation and not taking any institution head-on.

  • ‘A conspiracy could be hatched against Pakistan from abroad if social media not controlled’: CJ Lahore High Court

    ‘A conspiracy could be hatched against Pakistan from abroad if social media not controlled’: CJ Lahore High Court

    Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Qasim Khan, while hearing a case on offensive content on social media, observed that a conspiracy could be hatched against Pakistan from abroad if social media was not controlled.

    CJ LHC asked if a person could be tried in Pakistan for uploading hate material on social media from abroad or if a person was killed in Britain, could a trial be held in Pakistan. According to a report in The News, when the petitioner’s lawyer said that the law does exist under which a person could be tried in Pakistan for uploading objectionable material on social media while sitting abroad, CJ Qasim Khan got angry. He asked the lawyer to complete his preparation before coming up with arguments.

    CJ LHC observed that people can be instigated to rebel if social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram were not controlled.

    In April, CJ Khan had observed that civil servants should submit details of their cellular numbers and social media accounts to their relevant departments. He also asked departments to make a code of conduct for civil servants for social media use. He was hearing a petition against running a social media campaign against the judiciary after the arrest of an assistant commissioner on the orders of a civil judge in Sahiwal. Back in February, CJ LHC had ordered the director general FIA to constitute a committee to examine all YouTube channels as well as other social media accounts with videos against the judiciary and asked that proceedings against them should be initiated.

  • Govt takes back appeal against Shehbaz, name still on ECL

    The federal government has withdrawn its petition challenging the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict, which allowed Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif to travel abroad for his medical treatment.

    Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan informed the court that the government was withdrawing its appeal as Shehbaz had decided to take back his petitions against the government in the High Court.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told The Current that the government has not taken it back. “It is disposed of with the order of the Supreme Court (SC) that this order will still not be cited as a precedent in any case in the future and Shehbaz Sharif or anyone on his behalf cannot use it for contempt proceedings against the government. This is clearly in favour of the government.”

    “If this was a proper or legal order, why can it not be used or followed again and why its violation did not amount to contempt. This is the first time where Supreme Court has passed such an order even though the petition was withdrawn from the High Court. It completely vindicates the government’s stand’” added Fawad.

    Fawad further said, “You compelled them to withdraw from the Lahore High Court and even thereafter the Supreme Court did not approve such an order. In addition, the Supreme Court has also ordered expeditious trial of Shehbaz Sharif in the Accountability Court.”

    Chaudhry had earlier tweeted, “The government’s appeal in the apex court was no longer necessary as Shehbaz’s name had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) and he had withdrawn his petition from the High Court.”

    In May, the LHC had granted conditional permission to Shehbaz to travel abroad for medical treatment. However, when the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly attempted to leave the country on May 9, he was stopped by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). On May 17, the Interior Ministry placed the Opposition leader’s name on the no fly-list.