Tag: Lahore High Court

  • ‘I should get justice by now’: Jahangir Tareen

    ‘I should get justice by now’: Jahangir Tareen

    Speaking to the media outside a Lahore sessions court, estranged Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen on Monday said he wants justice. “Don’t do politics with us, do justice with us,” said Tareen.

    Tareen was asked by a reporter if he had any contact with any high-ranking government official in Islamabad.

    “I have had no meeting with any senior government official. There was no meeting and this news is wrong and based on a misunderstanding. We are fighting our case in court and waiting for (Senator Barrister) Ali Zafar’s report,” he responded.

    Tareen said speculations were doing the rounds that Zafar had provided a “verbal report” to Prime Minister Imran Khan, which he said, was in his favour.

    “Imran Khan promised justice will be done. A lot of days have passed, I should get justice by now,” he said.

    Tareen said whatever Zafar had said about the cases against him should be made public.

    When questioned if the report was against him, would he accept it, the sugar baron answered: “We know some things which I don’t want to tell in the media. When the report comes and whatever happens then I will put everything in front of the media.”

    MNA Raja Riaz, a member of the pro-Tareen group, had previously said that Barrister Zafar had completed his probe and given a ‘clean chit’ to the disgruntled PTI leader. However, Senator Ali Zafar later rubbished those claims and said that no report had been submitted by him.

  • Shehbaz files contempt petition in LHC against FIA officials

    Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif submitted a contempt petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday, against six officials who allegedly barred him from flying abroad despite the court’s order granting him permission.

    PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s name has been added to the Exit Control List (ECL).

     Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry, in a tweet said that with the approval of the cabinet and completion of all legal formalities, Shehbaz’s name was added to the no-fly list.

    Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that Shehbaz had not submitted any medical documents for travelling abroad or specify the treatment for his illness.

    “This is the first time that a verdict was given the same day a petition was filed. Shehbaz was trying to flee the country,” he remarked.

    Sheikh further added we want fair treatment for all prisoners and this is not fair. “What are the chances that Shehbaz Sharif will return when his brother Nawaz Sharif has yet to come back?” said Sheikh.

    He added that the PML-N leader may influence the approvers.

    Rasheed said Shehbaz can file an appeal against the decision in the Interior Ministry within 15 days.

    Earlier this month, the Lahore High Court granted Shehbaz permission to travel abroad once for medical treatment.

    After obtaining bail, Shehbaz was about to fly to London when an FIA team at the airport stopped him from travelling on the grounds that his name had been on the list of persons barred from leaving the country.

  • FIA bars Shehbaz from leaving the country

    FIA bars Shehbaz from leaving the country

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif was stopped by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from leaving the country earlier today. According to the FIA, Sharif’s name is on the Person-Not-In-List (PNIL), which means that persons who are not on Exit Control List (ECL) or on black list can be stopped through PNIL. On Friday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) said Shehbaz has “one time” permission to fly abroad for medical treatment. Sharif was all set to take a flight to London but the FIA stopped him at immigration at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.

    Talking to The Current, PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar said that this is a blatant violation of court orders despite FIA officials being present in court. “Such pettiness on behalf of the government has only exposed their nefarious designs.” Tarar, who is also part of the legal team in Sharif’s case, said that if this delay gives the prime minister satisfaction for a few days, “let him be happy”.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that Director General (DG) FIA has the authority to remove a name from a black list. “Shehbaz Sharif’s lawyers have not submitted any application to DG FIA to remove his [Sharif’s] name from the blacklist.” Chaudhry added that communicating something verbally does not mean there will be any change in the record. “The government will move the court against this decision.”

    Talking to the media, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the FIA has added Sharif’s name in another list. She said that despite written order by the LHC, stopping Shehbaz Sharif from travelling is tantamount to contempt of court. Marriyum Aurangzeb added that now we are being told by the FIA that the system has not been updated even though there were two FIA officials present in court when the LHC granted Sharif permission to travel abroad.

  • SC approves Meesha Shafi’s workplace harassment case for hearing

    The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Monday approved Meesha Shafi’s harassment case against Ali Zafar for hearing. As per details, Pakistan’s top court granted leave to Shafi in her harassment case against Ali Zafar. This means that the SC has granted permission to hear the appeal based on its legal points and will deliberate whether Shafi’s accusations of sexual harassment come under the workplace harassment law.

    Furthermore, notices were issued to respondents Zafar and the Punjab Government by a three-judge bench of the apex court led by Justice Mushir Alam.

    Meesha explained that the legal issue has never before been decided by the SC.

    Meesha was represented by senior lawyer Khawaja Ahmad Hosain and Noor Ejaz Chaudhry.

    The singer’s appeal was earlier rejected by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and Punjab ombudsperson, who ruled that her allegations did not come under the workplace harassment law.

    On Sunday, Meesha had informed her fans and followers that the Supreme Court was to hear her appeal on whether a ‘self-employed person’ has the “right, as per the law, to be heard after being harassed and therefore expect justice on merit as an equal citizen”. She had thanked her well-wishers for standing by her and for making her feel “less alone”.

    Read more – ‘You don’t want change’: Meesha Shafi condemns critics of #MeToo

    Meanwhile, Twitter lauded the SC’s order, terming it a landmark move.

    https://twitter.com/aloofmaybe/status/1348565712260878338
    https://twitter.com/sobhagadi/status/1348564367814623233

    Background of the case

    In 2018, Meesha first came forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Ali Zafar. She later filed a complaint with the provincial ombudsperson. After her appeal was rejected, she approached Governor Punjab, who upheld the ombudsperson’s decision. Meesha then challenged the Governor’s decision in Lahore High Court which again dismissed Meesha’s case for hearing on grounds that she did not have an employer-employee relationship with the accused.

  • Rape cases: LHC declares ‘two finger test’ illegal, discriminatory

    Rape cases: LHC declares ‘two finger test’ illegal, discriminatory

    The Lahore High Court has declared “two finger test and hymen test carried out for the purposes of ascertaining the virginity of a female victim of rape or sexual abuse” discriminatory and against the constitution of Pakistan.

    In a ruling issued in response to a plea filed by women activists seeking a ban on the discriminatory practice, the court said: “It is declared that two finger test and the hymen test carried out for the purposes of ascertaining the virginity of a female victim of rape or sexual abuse is unscientific having no medical basis, therefore it has no forensic value in cases of sexual violence.”

    The plea had argued that the virginity tests are “neither necessary nor reliable or relevant for the purpose of investigation into the incident of rape or sexual abuse”.

    The court said the test “offends the personal dignity of the female victim and therefore is against the right to life and right to dignity enshrined in Article 9 and 14 of the constitution”. It further said the hymen test also discriminates against women as it is carried out on the basis of gender.

    The judgement written by Justice Ayesha Malik noted that the hymen test can be carried if it is “warranted medically or for treatment purposes” and the medical officer must “stipulate the reasons” for carrying out this test.

    In a reference to a recent anti-rape ordinance by the federal government, the court said: “Notwithstanding the promulgation of 2020 Ordinance
    which specifically prohibits the two finger test by way of Section 13, the federal government has taken no steps to enforce the requirements of the 2020 Ordinance or any steps to create awareness and training in order to change the habits of the medico-legal officers in carrying out the virginity test.”

    It said the practice is ingrained in the processes of the medico-legal examination which cannot be ended without proper training and awareness. According to the LHC, the federation and provincial government should take necessary steps to ensure that virginity tests are not carried out in medicolegal examination of the victims of rape and sexual abuse.

  • Lahore CCPO in hot water for criticising LHC

    Lahore CCPO in hot water for criticising LHC

    The chief justice of the Lahore High Court has ordered a review of interviews of Lahore police chief Umer Shaikh over his remarks against the judiciary, wherein he implicitly blamed the courts for an increase in the crime rate.

    Reacting to the statement of the CCPO Shaikh in which he said the criminals detained by the police were given bail by the courts, the chief justice said the suspects are granted bail in line with the constitution. He said such statements by CCPO Shaikh were akin to committing contempt of court and asked the Punjab advocate general to give details of his interviews in 15 days.

    He said the Lahore police chief boasted that he would curb the crime rate in the provincial capital in three months, but it seems the robberies and streets crimes are on the rise despite his posting.

    He further added that the courts will not tolerate unfounded criticism by the police officer and if he has a complaint against the bail granted to the accused, he could approach the relevant forum in this regard.

    This is not the first time that Sheikh has made headlines for all the wrong reasons as soon after his posting, he had landed in hot water for victim-blaming after the horrific motorway gang-rape incident. The Lahore CCPO had remarked that the rape survivor should have been more careful and taken a safer route.

    In Sept, a trainee sub-inspector Fahad Iftikhar Virk submitted his resignation after he was abused by CCPO Umer Sheikh for speaking in English.

    Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Shoaib Dastgir was also removed amid much controversy after a standoff with Sheikh after the latter asked his subordinates to ignore the IG’s order.

  • Petition filed in LHC to block TikTok through VPNs, proxies

    Petition filed in LHC to block TikTok through VPNs, proxies

    A citizen approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday requesting authorities concerned to block the use of TikTok through Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and proxies.

    In his petition, the petitioner explained that people are still using Tiktok through VPN and some other proxies. The court was pleaded to direct the government to ban the use of TikTok through VPN and proxies as well.

    Meanwhile, social media star Hareem Shah slammed the government’s decision to ban the video-sharing app saying that it is only a diversion from real issues like wheat flour crisis and rape cases. She said that YouTube and other social media sites also carry content which is questionable.

    Shah further explained her point saying that if nails grow on fingers we cut the nails, not the hands.

    On the other hand, the most followed TikTok Star Jannat Mirza supported the government on the ban but said it should not be on permanent basis.

    Many other prominent personalities including Shahid Afridi and Imran Abbas supported the ban on Tiktok.

    The Government of Pakistan banned TikTok on Friday due to “immoral/indecent” content being shared on the social media platform. The ban has sparked uncertainty in the content creator industry considering that a great number of people earn from social media.

    However, Federal Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication Aminul Haque on Saturday had clarified that the government will lift the ban on TikTok after removal of objectionable content.

  • Sexual assault survivors’ virginity test will be abolished

    Sexual assault survivors’ virginity test will be abolished

    The provincial health authorities have told the Lahore High Court that the two-finger test (TFT), an old practice of examining sexual assault survivors, has limited evidentiary value and will be eliminated from the protocol of medico-legal certificate (MLC) unless required.

    The test is still used in Pakistan regardless of calls for its cancellation by healthcare professionals and human rights organisations.

    “It is not objective of the medical examination of a female victim of sexual assault to comment about the character of the examinee neither TFT is being practiced with that objective nor it has any strong evidentiary value related to the determination of virginity,” says a joint reply by the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department, the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department and surgeon medico-legal Lahore.

    As per reports, the reply was submitted on Friday during the hearing of two public interest petitions challenging the TFT for being disrespectful, inhuman and violative to the fundamental rights of women.

    The petitions mainly plead the demeaning practice whereby medico-legal officers perform a hymen test and a “two-finger test” as part of medical evaluation of women victims is unreliable and unnecessary and has no scientific basis.

    Responding to the points raised in the petitions, the government’s reply states that only certified women medical officer (WMO) do the TFT and that too after the consent of the victim or her guardian in a written form.

    “In case of refusal by the victim, the medical examination is not conducted and the referring court is informed in writing,” it says.

    Justice Ayesha A. Malik will resume hearing on the petitions on Nov 6 when the petitioners will appear with their responses.

    One petition was filed by PML-N MNA Shaista Pervez Malik while women rights activists, academics, journalists and advocates were petitioners in the other. They include Sadaf Aziz, Farida Shaheed, Farieha Aziz, Farah Zia, Sarah Zaman, Maliha Zia Lari, Dr. Aisha Babar and Zainab Husain.

    Advocate Sahar Zareen Bandial and Barrister Sameer Khosa are the lead counsel for the petitioners.

  • LHC sacks controversial judge who convicted Nawaz Sharif

    LHC sacks controversial judge who convicted Nawaz Sharif

    Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Qasim Khan on Friday dismissed controversial judge Arshad Malik from his post, Geo reported.

    According to reports, the decision was taken by the administration committee of the LHC, which was chaired by LHC CJ and attended by seven other senior judges, including justices Ameer Bhatti, Malik Shahzad Khan, Ayesha Malik, Shahid Waheed and Ali Baqar Najafi.

    The career of the accountability court judge, who had sentenced former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference, went down the hill after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in 2019 released a video clip purportedly showing him admitting to a lack of evidence against the ousted former premier in the same case.

    READ: ‘Judge who convicted Nawaz to be removed from post’

    PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz had showed the video and read out its transcript at a press conference lasting more than an hour.

    PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and other senior party leaders had accompanied Maryam at the press conference at the time.

    The video purportedly showed the accountability court judge speaking to a PML-N worker named Nasir Butt and claiming that he was coerced to hand down the prison sentence against Nawaz despite there being no proof of corruption against the deposed premier.

    READ: ‘Maryam distances herself from NAB judge’s scandalous video’

    PML-N leadership has since been demanding that Nawaz’s sentence be nullified. The convicted ex-PM is already out of prison to seek medical treatment in London.

  • Man files petition to ban PUBG

    Man files petition to ban PUBG

    A petition was filed on Monday in the Lahore High Court to ban video game PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) following which the court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to decide on the matter within six weeks.

    The petitioner’s lawyer Bilal Riaz Sheikh moved the court after finding some features of PUBG “problematic”.

    “The game has a negative impact on children. They are becoming more ruthless and violent,” he said.

    He asked the court to order the removal of PUBG from the Google Play Store. The court said it has forwarded petition over the game to the PTA several times, but the authority never responds.

    As per reports, the court, earlier, disposed of a similar petition that asked for a ban on the game. 

    PUBG is an online multiplayer In the game, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island and scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill others while avoiding getting killed themselves.