Tag: law

  • Usman Mirza, four others sentenced to life in prison in couple harassment case

    Usman Mirza, four others sentenced to life in prison in couple harassment case

    An Islamabad district and sessions court has sentenced Usman Mirza and four others to life imprisonment in the case of harassment and assaulting of a couple in Islamabad. The four accomplices include Mohib Bangash, Adaras Qayyum Butt, Hafiz Ataur Rehman and Farhan Shaheen. Meanwhile, Umar Bilal and Rehan Hassan Mughal were acquitted.

    Judge Atta Rabbani announced the verdict.

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that despite the fact that the couple retracted their statements, the use of technology as evidence in the case is welcoming.

    Read more- Usman Mirza Case: Couple refuses to recognise accused persons, reportedly took one crore in deal

    The minister also added that justice will prevail in Sialkot and other cases too.

    The case was highlighted last year in July when a video of Usman Mirza harassing a couple went viral on social media. Mirza was arrested on July 7 after the disturbing video went viral on social media where he could be seen torturing and assaulting a couple. He was also seen stripping the woman in the video. On January 11, the female victim refused to identify any of the accused and said she does not want to pursue the case, after which the state decided to pursue prosecution.

  • Couples will have to testify their belief in the finality of Prophethood (PBUH) before marriage: Punjab cabinet

    Couples will have to testify their belief in the finality of Prophethood (PBUH) before marriage: Punjab cabinet

    The Punjab cabinet has approved an amendment to the West Pakistan Rules under Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 and has included a new clause according to which couples planning to marry would have to take oath at the moment of nikkah to testify to their belief in the finality of Prophethood (PBUH).

    The amendment was approved in the 51st provincial cabinet meeting. The cabinet met with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

    In October 2021, the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to include ‘finality of Prophethood’ in the Nikkahnama (Marriage Certificate). The resolution was jointly tabled by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Khadija Omar, Bismillah Chaudhry, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Maulana Ilyas Chinioti.

  • Rawalpindi Qari allegedly stabs 12-year-old girl student to death

    Rawalpindi Qari allegedly stabs 12-year-old girl student to death

    A Qari allegedly stabbed a 12-year-old girl to death in Rawalpindi, as reported by Geo News. The perpetrator fled after committing the crime, but authorities apprehended him later that day with the murder weapon. The accused has been arrested along with the murder weapon.

    As per the police, the 21-year-old Qari named Adil from Abbottabad used to visit the victim’s house to teach her the Holy Quran. The victim’s parents had barred the Qari from coming to their home after the girl complained about him, saying that he was trying to do immoral acts with her.

    Adil followed the girl to her tuition centre and stabbed her in the neck with a sharp weapon.

    The police reached the scene as soon as they received information about the incident, gathered evidence and sent the girl’s body to the hospital for a postmortem.

    As per SP Rawal Babar Javed Joya, the accused confessed to the murder, saying that he killed her because the victim’s family was suspicious of him.

  • Man arrested for second marriage without taking consent of first wife

    A man convicted of remarrying without the permission of his first wife has been arrested in Lahore High Court. The convict was sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 560,000 in December last year by trial court. However, he ran away before getting arrested.

    Ghulam Rasool, who had remarried without permission from his first wife, had come to the Lahore High Court to file an appeal against the sentence, where he was arrested.

    A one-member bench of the Lahore High Court will hear the appeal against the sentence next week. Ghulam Rasool has requested the High Court to suspend the sentence till the decision on his appeal. The accused’s first wife had filed a case against her husband for remarrying.

  • Pakistan’s first transgender doctor gets job at JPMC

    Pakistan’s first transgender doctor gets job at JPMC

    Pakistan’s first transgender doctor, Sarah Gill, has got a house job at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi.

    On Tuesday, a confirmation letter for a house job at the JPMC was given by the Executive Director Prof Dr Shahid Rasool to Dr Gill.

    Previously, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto gave directions to the Sindh government to arrange a house job for her.

    In response, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah gave directions to the JPMC to issue a confirmation letter to perform her house job at the hospital.

    In September 2021, another transgender lawyer and activist, Nisha Rao, was also granted admission to the MPhil programme to study law.

    She was also the first Pakistani transgender person to have received a law degree from the Sindh Muslim Government Law College in 2020.

  • Justice Ayesha Malik takes oath, becomes first woman to be SC Judge

    Justice Ayesha Malik takes oath, becomes first woman to be SC Judge

    Justice Ayesha Malik has taken oath as the Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan. With her appointment, she has become the first woman of the country to reach the apex court.

    Her swearing-in ceremony was held at the apex court today. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed administered the oath to her.

     Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz has lauded Ayesha Malik’s appointment.

    Senator Shibli Faraz has termed her appointment as the “historic moment” in the judicial history of Pakistan.

    President Arif Alvi on Friday gave final approval of her elevation. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan had on January 7 approved the elevation with a vote of five for and four against after a heated discussion on whether judges should be appointed based on merit or seniority.

  • Meesha Shafi wins case against stay order obtained by Ali Zafar

    Meesha Shafi wins case against stay order obtained by Ali Zafar

    Singer, Meesha Shafi has won a civil revision challenge at the Lahore High Court against a stay order obtained by Ali Zafar against a defamation suit which Meesha had filed against him.

    The stay order that was issued on February 13, 2020 issued by the trial court had stopped the proceedings of a civil defamation case filed by Meesha Shafi in 2019 under the Defamation Ordinance 2002 for false and defamatory statements made by Ali Zafar in the media and social media.

    In its application for a stay order against Meesha’s defamation case, Ali Zafar had argued that Meesha’s suit should be stayed until a separate defamation case filed by Ali Zafar is decided. However, the Lahore High Court has overturned this order by accepting a civil revision challenge which has stated that the cause of action of the two suits is sufficiently different and the trial against Ali Zafar can proceed and Meesha Shafi’s legal team can now pursue the case against Ali Zafar.

    What is Meesha’s defamation suit?

    Meesha Shafi had filed a case on September 17, 2019 pertaining to a defamatory smear campaign by Ali Zafar. In the suit, Meesha contended that statements made by Ali Zafar on a private Pakistani news channel on falsely stated that she was a “liar” and that she made sexual harassment allegations to obtain fame and Canadian immigration.

    Ali also stated that Meesha wanted to “become another Malala Yousafzai”, implying that Malala fabricated her assassination attempt.

    Meesha Shafi reacted to the news, thanking her legal team and all those who support her.

  • Acceptable for a girl, boy to be in a relationship? Zahir’s lawyer to Noor’s father in courtroom

    Acceptable for a girl, boy to be in a relationship? Zahir’s lawyer to Noor’s father in courtroom

    Lawyer of Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in Noor Mukadam’s case in a hearing today questioned Shaukat Ali Mukadam in the courtroom about late Noor Mukadam and Zahir Jaffer’s relationship.

    As per Journalist Saqib Bashir, Zahir Jaffer’s lawyer, Saleem during cross- examination asked Noor’s father: “Keeping that in mind that you have been an ambassador to this country, tell me is it acceptable for a guy and a girl to have such a relation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?”

    After the cross-examination he apologised Noor’s father for his “hard questions”

    Zahir was presented in court on a chair today. As per lawyers his mental condition has gotten unstable.

  • Court says Zahir Jaffer does not need an assessment by a medical board

    Court says Zahir Jaffer does not need an assessment by a medical board

    An additional sessions court under Judge Ata Rabbani on Wednesday dismissed alleged murderer Zahir Jaffer’s plea seeking the formation of a medical board to determine his mental condition. Noor’s father had also requested the court to dismiss the plea.

    Her father insisted that Zahir Jaffer has appeared in court on several occasions for remand and trials, and that his petition alleging mental illness should be dismissed.

    Noor’s father, Shaukat Mukadam’s statement was supposed to be recorded on Wednesday. However, his statement was not taken and he has now been summoned by the court on January 15 to record his statement.

    Read more- Decision on formation of medical board to determine Zahir Jaffer’s mental condition reserved

    Noor Mukadam was brutally murdered at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20. The case is currently on trial. Her death sparked national outrage, including protests and candlelight vigils across the country.

  • Jamaat-e-Islami proposes law to ban gender reassignment surgeries, condemns current law

    Jamaat-e-Islami proposes law to ban gender reassignment surgeries, condemns current law

    Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) presented a bill in the upper house of Parliament Senate seeking an amendment in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, for the creation of a medical board that would recommend “whether a person’s gender should change, instead of them seeking a reassignment on the basis of their personal identity”, reports Dawn.

    The bill was presented by JI’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad who recommended the formation of such boards at the district level comprising of a professor doctor, a psychologist, a male general surgeon, a female general surgeon, and a chief medical officer after the approval by the Prime Minister (PM) and provincial Chief Ministers (CM).

    The proposed law also seeks a ban of gender reassignment surgeries or any other treatment to change genital features on the basis of “any psychological disorder or gender dysphoria”. It also states that the law in its present form could lead to the “legalisation of homosexual marriages”.

    However, the present law states: “A person recognised as transgender shall have the right to get himself or herself registered as per self-perceived gender identity with all government departments including, but not limited to NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority).”

    According to the JI, under the current law, a person could get themselves registered as a man or a woman not on the basis of their biology but their “personal thoughts”.

    Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari strongly opposed the proposed bill which was presented by JI and said the proposed amendment was aimed at “victimising” transgenders. She defended the current law and argued that it gave Transgenders Persons the right to identity.

    “Till date, not a single complaint has been received regarding the misuse of this existing law,” she said.

    JI and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) senators protested Mazari’s remarks, following which Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, sent the bill to the relevant standing committee for discussion.

    According to data shared with the house, 16,530 cases of gender change from male to female were processed, 12,154 cases of female to male, 21 cases of transgender to male, nine cases of male to transgender and as many cases of transgender to female.