Tag: LHC

  • Lockdown restrictions revised in Punjab

    Lockdown restrictions revised in Punjab

    The Punjab government on Thursday revised the terms of the lockdown imposed in multiple districts of the province as major cities grapple with crippling fog.

    In its amended notification, the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department of the province notified that call centres and international information technology companies will be allowed to operate during the lockdown.

    While markets in the eight smog-hit districts will be allowed to operate today and tomorrow; however, shopping malls and markets will be closed on Saturday and Sunday.

    The notification also states that cinema halls, restaurants and gyms will remain open today as per routine.

    The decision will remain in effect in Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Gujranwala Narowal, Hafizabad and Sialkot.

    Previous Notification

    A day earlier, an environmental and health emergency had been declared in Lahore, Gujranwala, and Hafizabad divisions for four days due to the prevailing smog conditions.

    Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi made the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday when the air quality index (AQI) in the city measured 390, falling under the category of hazardous.

    At this AQI level, the city maintained its position as one of the most polluted cities with citizens experiencing a hazy and smoggy atmosphere throughout the day. The air quality was severely poor, making it nearly impossible to breathe normally outdoors.

    Notification issued on Tuesday detailed that from Thursday to Sunday i.e., November 9, 2023, to November 12, 2023, all markets, shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas, gymnasiums, schools (public and private), and offices (public and private) will remain closed in Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Gujranwala Narowal, Hafizabad and Sialkot.

    Also, the movement of people will be limited to and from these areas by public and private transport.

    The following will be exempted from closure:

    • Pharmacies/ Medical Stores
    • Medical Facilities and Vaccination Centers
    • Petrol Pumps
    • Oil Depots
    • Tandoors
    • Bakeries,
    • Grocery / Karyana stores
    • Milk / Dairy Shops
    • Sweet Shops,
    • Vegetable / Fruit Shops
    • Chicken / Meat Shops
    • E-commerce
    • Postal / Courier Services
    • Utility Services (Electricity, Natural Gas, Internet, Cellular Networks /Telecom.

    Large departmental stores will only keep their grocery /pharmacy sections open while all other sections will remain closed.

    It has been suggested by the government that people buy groceries and medicines within the vicinity of their residence.

  • Punjab imposes partial smart lockdown for four days

    Punjab imposes partial smart lockdown for four days

    The Government of Punjab, after approval from the Chief Minister, has ordered “restricted movement” in some areas of Punjab to combat smog. 

    The areas of Lahore Division (District Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura, Kasur), District Gujranwala, District Hafizabad, and District Narowal, have the worst Air Quality Index (AQI), becoming potential hotspots for Conjunctivitis, and will go under lockdown.

    From Thursday to Sunday i.e., November 9, 2023, to November 12, 2023, all markets, shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas, gymnasiums, schools

    (public and private), and offices (public and private) will remain closed in these areas.

    Also, movement of people will be limited to and from these areas by public and private transport.

    The following will be exempted from closure:

    •           Pharmacies/ Medical Stores

    •           Medical Facilities and Vaccination Centers

    •           Petrol Pumps

    •           Oil Depots

    •           Tandoors

    •           Bakeries,

    •           Grocery / Karyana stores

    •           Milk / Dairy Shops

    •           Sweet Shops,

    •           Vegetable / Fruit Shops

    •           Chicken / Meat Shops

    •           E-commerce 

    •           Postal / Courier Services

    •           Utility Services (Electricity, Natural Gas, Internet, Cellular Networks /Telecom.

    Large departmental stores will only keep their grocery /pharmacy sections open while all other sections will remain closed.

    It has been suggested by the government that people buy groceries and medicines within the vicinity of their residence.

  • Lahore smog: Court orders government to impose emergency

    Lahore smog: Court orders government to impose emergency

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) held the interim government responsible for the current situation of smog in Lahore, directing authorities to impose an emergency in the city.

    The LHC issued an order after reviewing applications demanding action.

    Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhwa and other officers appeared before the court in today’s hearing.

    The court ordered the caretaker government not to unseal factories that are emitting black smoke.   

    LHC judge Shahid Karim said that “previously, smog started to affect the city at the end of November and December, but now it has started in October.”

    While ordering an imposition of an emergency in the city, he said, “The government is responsible for the current situation of smog.”

    The judge directed officers to fulfil their responsibility as the owners of the city and to take care of Lahore.

    The judge then adjourned the hearing till November 3.

  • ‘Last chance’ given by Lahore High Court to recover Sheikh Rasheed

    ‘Last chance’ given by Lahore High Court to recover Sheikh Rasheed

    Awami Muslim League leader and former federal interior minister, Sheikh Rasheed, was arrested from his house in Rawalpindi last month. On Thursday, the Lahore High Court gave the police one more week to find him.

    At today’s hearing, RPO Rawalpindi Syed Khurram Ali and CPO Rawalpindi Khalid Hamdani appeared before the court, seeking more time for recovering Sheikh Rasheed.

    “How much more time do you need for recovery, what have you done so far,” the court asked the cops. The RPO Rawalpindi said the officers responsible for the arrest were not present in the area on that day.

    “We need a bit more time for recovery,’ the RPO informed the court.

    “We are giving you a week’s time as the last chance to recover Sheikh Rasheed else the court will pass an order with a warning,” was the reply.

    The hearing was then adjourned until October 27.

  • Court restricts political parties from holding rallies at Liberty roundabout

    Court restricts political parties from holding rallies at Liberty roundabout

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to submit a new request for organizing a rally at a different site, rather than Liberty Chowk, the originally proposed location by PTI.
    The court’s verdict came in response to PTI’s appeal seeking authorization to hold a rally at Liberty Chowk. Nevertheless, the Lahore High Court has denied permission for the rally to take place at the Liberty roundabout.

    Justice Raheel Kamran stated that if the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) fails to obtain approval for an alternative rally venue, no political party will be allowed to hold a rally.
    He granted PTI a 72-hour period to secure permission for the new location.
    The decision to decline permission for the rally at Liberty Chowk is rooted in security apprehensions, considering the events that transpired on May 9.

  • Bushra Bibi files petition to avoid possible arrest

    Bushra Bibi files petition to avoid possible arrest

    Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, has moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) to stop authorities from arresting her, asking for details of all the cases including undisclosed first information reports (FIRs) registered against her.

    The petition, filed through Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad Mohal on Monday, states that after the illegal removal of the petitioner’s husband from the office of the prime minister, political victimization of the petitioner, her husband and other family members has been initiated by federal and provincial governments as well as law enforcement agencies, all of whom are respondents in the petition.

    Bushra Bibi has pleaded that FIRs against her have been kept secret by the respondents to bar her from seeking pre-arrest bail. The respondents include the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab, and police.

    “That act of the respondents regarding lodging false, frivolous, baseless and concocted FIRs against the petitioner and to conceal the FIRs numbers, police stations, districts, dates and provinces clearly indicates that the respondents intend to arrest the petitioner without providing an opportunity to get the relief from competent courts of law in the shape of anticipatory bails and pre-arrest bails and to get the FIRs secret against the petitioner at the behest of the respondents is not warranted by law, so law and justice demand that the respondents be directed to submit list of all criminal cases registered against the petitioner throughout in Pakistan, so that the petitioner may approach the competent courts of law, for redress of her grievances,” the petition read.

    It further requested for an order against arresting Bushra Bibi in any case till the provision of the details of case. The hearing of the petition is fixed before the court of Justice Alia Neelum.

    READ MORE: PDM is not ready to talk with Imran

  • Court orders release of PTI’s Parvez Elahi

    Court orders release of PTI’s Parvez Elahi

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to release the president of Pakistan Tehrrek-e-Insaf (PTI), Parvez Elahi, on Friday, after the accountability watchdog’s decision to arrest the former chief minister of Punjab was challenged in court through a petition.

    After Elahi was brought before the court, LHC Justice Amjad Rafiq announced the decision, telling NAB at the hearing today that if Elahi is not produced today, the court will issue a warrant against the director-general of the accountability body.

    On the NAB prosecutor’s reply, Justice Amjad Rafiq said that there will be a complete inquiry, ordering Parvez Elahi’s immediate release.

    It should be noted that when Parvez Elahi first filed an application in the Lahore High Court, the court granted him bail in all cases. But against the decision of the single bench of the court, the Punjab government filed an appeal before a two-member bench, which suspended the decision of the single-member bench.

  • ‘No connection’; Fawad denies alleged audio leak

    ‘No connection’; Fawad denies alleged audio leak

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has denied that the alleged audio leak of him discussing judges of the superior judiciary has anything to do with him.

    The audio conversation, allegedly between Fawad Chaudhry and his brother Faisal Chaudhary, surfaced online early Friday morning, with two voices discussing a meeting between senior judges.

    “Another fake audio has been thrown in the market in my name. I have no connection with this audio,” Chaudhary tweeted within hours of the conversation surfacing online.

    A voice, allegedly Fawad Chaudhry’s, tells his younger brother that a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC) wants to meet a judge of the Supreme Court. The judge is the same who’s alleged audio conversation with Pervez Elahi surfaced online a few weeks ago. The voice also asks that four more sections are imposed on Ata Tarrar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

  • ‘Want to meet your father, go where Section 144 is imposed and get arrested’: LHC’s judge’s reply to Zain Qureshi

    ‘Want to meet your father, go where Section 144 is imposed and get arrested’: LHC’s judge’s reply to Zain Qureshi

    During a hearing on the petition filed for the recovery of the jailed leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the courtroom in Lahore High Court (LHC) burst into laughter as the judge gave a hilarious response to Zain Qureshi, son of Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

    During the hearing, the court inquired from the lawyer of the petitioner why his clients were arrested, to which the lawyer said that they had started Jail Bharro Tehreek (voluntary arrest movement). Justice Shahram then asked the lawyers that why they were “playing with the courts”, to which the lawyer said that these were symbolic arrests. “We are not asking for bail, we have come to the court to protect their rights.”

    The response promoted laughter in the court, on which the judge said, “You were saying yourself to arrest him, now if he is arrested, what is the urgency?”

    Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son, Zain Qureshi, also appeared in the court and said in his statement, “I was not arrested but my father was arrested, they are not allowing me to meet him.”

    Justice Shahram instructed Zain Qureshi to go to the place where Section 144 is imposed. “You will be arrested and then you will be able to meet your father too.”

  • Govt to disclose Toshkhana gifts publicly

    Govt to disclose Toshkhana gifts publicly

    The federal government has decided to publicly disclose the details and records of gifts received and deposited in the Toshakhana over the past two decades.

    The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting after the government faced backlash for it’s reluctance to disclose the list of gifts.

    The Toshakhana was established in 1978. All public officeholders, including parliamentarians and bureaucrats, are bound to report the gifts they have received from foreign dignitaries to the Cabinet Division, whereafter they are to be deposited at the Toshakhana.

    Earlier, the incumbent government told Lahore High Court (LHC) that public disclosure of Toshakhana details could cause unnecessary media hype and could be potentially damaging to Pakistan’s foreign relations.

    Former Prime Minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been accused of not sharing details of the state gifts which he received during his tenure as the head of government.

    Last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) also disqualified the PTI chief as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in the Toshkhana case.