Tag: state institutions

  • Court orders Khan, wife to avoid making negative statements against state institutions

    Court orders Khan, wife to avoid making negative statements against state institutions

    An accountability court in Islamabad has instructed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, to avoid making negative comments about the military and the judiciary. The court also directed the media not to highlight “political or inflammatory” statements made by the couple.

    Judge Rana Nasir Javed barred the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and his wife from speaking against state institutions while he disposed of a petition seeking a fair trial in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

    According to the court order, the former prime minister made a proactive statement against senior officials of state institutions, including the army and judiciary. The statements not only disturbed the court’s decorum but were also an obstacle to providing justice.

    The court directed the prosecution, the accused, and their defence counsel to avoid statements that disrupt the decorum of the court.

  • ‘Fine line between enforced disappearances and self-disappearance’, says Sarfraz Bugti

    ‘Fine line between enforced disappearances and self-disappearance’, says Sarfraz Bugti

    Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, while addressing the issue of missing persons in Pakistan, stated that the assemblies in the country represent “legitimate voices” for separatists expressing their perspectives.

    During an interview with DawnNewsTV program Doosra Rukh, Bugti delved into the complexities of missing persons cases, shedding light on the challenges faced in resolving them.

    Bugti’s comments come against the backdrop of an ongoing missing persons case being heard by the Islamabad High Court.

    On November 29, the court issued a warning that a case might be filed against the caretaker prime minister and others if they did not facilitate the reunion of missing Baloch students with their families.

    He also emphasized the delicate nature of the missing person issue, stating, “We have a commission on this matter, and it has resolved around 85 per cent of cases.”

    The commission was established in 2011 to trace missing persons and fix responsibility on the individuals or organizations responsible for it.

    In the interview aired on Friday, Minister Bugti pointed out the fine line between “enforced disappearances and self-disappearance”, highlighting that the commission had encountered cases with surprising details.

    “There were cases wherein people left their homes after a domestic dispute, and it transpired weeks later that they had left home themselves.”

    He also noted instances where individuals lost their lives in “encounters” with security forces.

    Minister added, “Then there are cases in which suspects are absconders required by a court, and their families submit pleas claiming their family member as missing to avoid court [action].”

    He remarked that such cases had been reported and documented.

  • FIR to be lodged against Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and Sarfraz Bugti : Islamabad High Court

    FIR to be lodged against Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and Sarfraz Bugti : Islamabad High Court

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a directive to the federal government, ordering the recovery of all missing Baloch students.

    During a hearing related to the implementation of recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani warned that a case will be registered against the caretaker prime minister if the recovery of the students is not ensured.

    Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan told the court that 22 Baloch students had been recovered and reached home while 28 Baloch students were still missing and efforts will be made to recover all the missing persons.

    Referring to the missing persons, the senior judge wondered: “Are such things take place in a civilised society? Every missing person who is recovered says I don’t want to pursue the case.”

    If the missing persons are not recovered, the IHC judge said he will order the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti.

    “I am stating this in very clear words.”

    The judge’s warning follows the non-appearance of the caretaker prime minister, who failed to attend the court hearing on November 29 as summoned by the IHC. The caretaker PM cited foreign trips as the reason for his absence, indicating that he is currently on an official visit to the Middle East.

    Justice Kayani also held the defense secretary and the interior secretary responsible for the recovery of the Baloch students if it didn’t take place. He urged the authorities to present the missing persons in court, even if they are labeled as terrorists.

    The hearing of the case has been adjourned until January 10.

  • Court grants bail PTI’s Shahbaz Gill

    Court grants bail PTI’s Shahbaz Gill

    Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill in the sedition case filed against him.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah directed the authorities to release Gill on bail after hearing arguments from all of the parties in the case. The court also directed Gill to submit Rs500,000 as surety against his bail.

    Last week, Gill approached the high court after his failure to get bail from a trial court despite continuous efforts.

    Following his bail, Gill tweeted on his official handle.

    It is pertinent to mention that Shahbaz Gill was taken into custody on August 9 from Bani Gala Chowk for inciting the public against state institutions.

    Shahbaz Gill behind bars: Islamabad court approves two-day physical remand, again

    An Islamabad district and sessions court on Wednesday (August 17) approved a two-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Dr Shahbaz Gill in police custody. The court was hearing a review plea seeking Gill’s remand in a sedition case.

    Last Friday (August 12), a district and sessions court in Islamabad hearing a sedition case against Shahbaz Gill rejected the prosecution’s request to extend Gill’s physical remand. Instead, the court had sent him to jail on judicial remand. A plea was then filed by Islamabad Advocate General Jahangir Khan Jadoon in the Islamabad High Court on August 13 challenging the order.

    Shahbaz Gill told the court on August 12 that he was being subjected to extreme torture in custody.

    “I am a professor, not a criminal,” said Gill, adding that he was not permitted to sleep and not even allowed to meet his lawyers.

    ‘He was stripped naked’: Imran Khan

    PTI Chairman Imran Khan recently revealed that his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill was stripped naked and beaten up in custody.

    This is political victimisation: Shahbaz Gill

    Gill was presented in a court earlier today after the completion of two-day physical remand.

    He said that his arrest was political victimisation.

    “No honourable Pakistani will ever say anything against the Pakistan Army,” added Gill.

    Gill denied reports that he admitted his guilt or that he made the statement on Imran Khan’s instructions.

    “No. Not at all. I did not say any such thing.”

    Two-day physical remand

    A court in Islamabad on Wednesday (August 10) approved a two-day physical remand of Gill in a sedition case. The police had been directed to produce Gill before the court on August 12 (Friday), while the investigating officer was told to get the PTI leader medically examined.

    Gill, who is PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s chief of staff, was taken into custody on August 9 from Bani Gala Chowk for inciting the public against state institutions.

    ‘Not ashamed’ says Gill

    While talking to the media, Gill said he was not “ashamed” of the statement that he made on the private television channel.

    “There was nothing in my statement that I am ashamed of [….] my statement was of a person who loves his armed forces,” said Gill.

    The PTI leader said he did not attempt to provoke anyone and that he was only pointing toward bureaucrats who were involved in “wrongdoings”.

    Shahbaz Gill arrested for ‘inciting members of state institutions’

    Dr Shahbaz Gill was arrested for inciting the public against the state institutions, a spokesperson of the Islamabad Police clarified.

    “Shahbaz Gill has been arrested for making statements against the state institutions and inciting the people to rebellion,” said a police spokesperson.

    A case has been registered against Gill at the Bani Gala Police Station, said the spokesperson. Besides other charges, clauses relating to inciting people against the state institutions and their heads were added to the First Information Report (FIR).

    Gill served in Imran Khan’s cabinet as a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister till April 10, 2022

    ’Abduction not an arrest’: Imran Khan

    PTI Chairman Imran Khan termed the arrest as an abduction.

    “This is an abduction not an arrest. Can such shameful acts take place in any democracy? Political workers treated as enemies. And all to make us accept a foreign backed government of crooks,” tweeted PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

    Khan shared a video in which Shahbaz Gill’s assistant said, “I wasn’t unlocking the car so after moving it to the side, they also subjected me to violence — look at my neck — and after that, he [Gill] was also handcuffed and they broke the car windows with Kalashnikovs,” adding that Gill was “dragged around as well and there were around eight to 10 cars”.

    CCTV footage of arrest

    The CCTV footage of Gill’s arrest has surfaced and it contradicts the claims made by PTI leadership after Gill’s arrest.

    Claims of Gill’s driver

    In a video, Gill’s driver claimed that they were manhandled by those who came to arrest Shahbaz Gill.

    “Around 15 to 20 cars with black mirrors were there. They did not show us any warrant or any paper. They broke the car windows with Kalashnikovs as if there was a terrorist sitting in the car. I sat silently, they kicked him [Shahbaz Gill] and then handcuffed him. They treated us like we had murdered someone. Then they stopped me and hit my neck with the Kalashnikov. They asked me to give his [Gill’s] phone, they were asking about the data. There was no number plate on the cars. All were in private cars.”

    In another video shared by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the driver also showed his wounds.

    What does the CCTV footage reveal?

    The CCTV footage shows that the security personnel gather around Gill’s car and signal him to come out of the car.

    It can be seen that Gill doesn’t comply with the order. Later, a security official breaks the window of the car with his gun.

    Gill comes out of the car and is seen walking up to the police vehicle himself and sitting in the car.

    After Gill is taken away, his driver can be seen parking the vehicle by the roadside.

    PTI leaders react to Gill’s arrest

    Fawad Chaudhry, in a tweet, stated that Gill was picked up from Bani Gala Chowk by unidentified personnel in cars with missing number plates.

    Earlier, Murad Saeed said that Shahbaz Gill has been taken into custody from Islamabad.

    “The imported government is in panic,” Murad Saeed said in a statement on social media.

    PTI’s official Twitter account shared a video of Gill’s vehicle showing broken glasses.

    On Twitter, PTI further demanded the immediate release of Gill. The statement said: “After the ban on ARY yesterday, they’ve today arrested Gill. Pakistan is living under a fascist imported government, that doesn’t care about the human rights of the people of Pakistan. We strongly demand the immediate release of Dr Gill.”

    Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari said Gill’s abduction and ARY being taken off air was part of the “grand design of US regime change conspiracy and its abettors”.

    A day ago, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had issued a show-cause notice to ARY News for airing comments by Gill and said they were “highly hateful and seditious” remarks tantamount to “incite armed forces towards revolt”.

    The notice went on to say that Gill was invited via a telephonic call for his comments and during which he alleged that the government was trying to provoke the lower and middle tier of the army against the PTI.

    Gill had said that the government leaders, including PML-N leader Javed Latif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and former National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, had lambasted the army in the past “and they were at the government positions now”.

  • Sedition charges filed against Shireen Mazari’s daughter Imaan

    Sedition charges filed against Shireen Mazari’s daughter Imaan

    A first information report (FIR ) has been registered against Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, daughter of Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari. Imaan, who is a lawyer and a human rights activist, participated in Baloch students’ protest in Islamabad. In addition, Member of National Assembly (MNA) Mohsin Dawar and Baloch students have also been booked for “rebellion, rioting, and raising of anti-state slogans”, sources revealed to Geo News.

    A case has been registered at Kohsar police station.

    Imaan Hazir-Mazari tweeted: “In response to the FIR that has been registered against me: #ReleaseHafeezBaloch #EndEnforcedDisappearancesNOW #StopHarassingBalochStudents“

    Mohsin Dawar, while reacting to the FIR against him, said: “Instead of filing cases against the rouge elements involved in enforced disappearances, the state chooses to file fake cases against those who protest against enforced disappearances. Such as is the way of the martial law regime in Pakistan. We stand with the Baloch students.”

    Why are Baloch students protesting?

    The students are protesting over the mysterious disappearance of one of their colleagues, Hafeez Baloch, three weeks ago from Khuzdar.

    Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has also extended her support for protesting students. “Our young people need political solutions to their problems, not repression,” Rehman wrote in a tweet,.

    People on social media are condemning the police action against Imaan Mazari-Hazir and other protesters:

  • 90 per cent institutions, including PM Khan’s office, decline RTI requests

    The majority of government institutions and departments have declined to respond to hundreds of queries by Geo News, which were sent to them under the Right To Information (RTI) laws, Investigative Reporter Zahid Gishkori reports for The News.

    According to the Punjab Information Commission, RTI is the right that you have, as a citizen, to access information from your government and private bodies that receive public funds. It is based on the principle that information belongs to the people. Under Article 19-A of the Constitution, RTI is a fundamental right in Pakistan.

    The media outlet reportedly sent approximately 400 different queries to 36 key institutions in the last nine months but 90 per cent of them didn’t respond or simply declined. Only 10 per cent of queries were partially responded to by the institutions, providing either very little or patchy information.

    According to the report, a few of the institutions provided factually incorrect and cooked-up information.

    Over 100 queries were sent to the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, both have not responded. Similarly, Sindh and Balochistan did not receive the correspondent’s queries.

    The departments that simply refused to share any information includes the offices of the Prime Minister, President, Chief Ministers, Cabinet Members, Supreme and High Courts, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), Parliament, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the report states.

    The Cabinet Division (CD) refused to share any information regarding gifts and the use of helicopters by PM Khan. The ARU and NAB refused to share information on the Broadsheet scandal, as per the report.

    Furthermore, it says that the Ministry of Interior even shared false information by saying no official is facing inquiry in issuing bogus visas to Chinese nationals. despite the fact that the interior ministry itself referred an inquiry against its own officials allegedly involved in a visa scam to the FIA for probe.

    During the process, Gishkori was approached by four cabinet members and half a dozen senior civil servants to withdraw the requests.

  • System on verge of collapse owing to ministries, state institutions’ illegal real estate business: IHC CJ

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a scathing verdict on increasing crime, abductions and land-grabbing activities in the federal capital, saying that government ministries and state institutions are involved in “illegal real estate business”.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah issued the remarks in a five-page order pertaining to the rise in said cases in Islamabad.

    It also noted that the involvement of state institutions and ministries in real estate business raised “questions of conflict of interest”.

    “Land-grabbing crimes are on the rise in Islamabad,” said the IHC top judge in the verdict, adding that reports were indicating how much corruption had made its way into the system.

    He warned that the system was on the “verge of collapse”.

    “Islamabad’s powerful elite is directly responsible for flouting laws,” said Justice Minallah. He added that there was no harm in saying that the “state has failed” to protect the common citizens.

    The verdict also said that an alarming law and order situation in Islamabad was “unacceptable”.

    “Institutions set up to protect fundamental rights of citizens are directly or indirectly involved in breaking the law,” noted the court.

  • ‘We’re patient’: Military reacts to detailed verdict in ex-chief’s treason case

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor on Thursday blasted the detailed judgement in the high treason case against former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, stating that the fears of the armed forces had proven true.

    “We direct the Law Enforcement Agencies to strive their level best to apprehend the fugitive/convict [Musharraf] and to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad and hanged for three days,” one of the judges, Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), had stated in the verdict issued earlier in the day.

    Reacting to the verdict, the military spokesperson said that the words used in the written order “transgressed humanity, religion, culture and any other values”.

    “Pakistan Army is a responsible institution and its soldiers have taken an oath to protect the country. For the armed forces, the country comes first, and institutions later,” Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said as he addressed a short press conference hours after the detailed verdict was issued by the special court trying the ex-army chief for treason.

    “We will not let this stability be reversed under any circumstances,” he said, adding that the military knew how to defend the institution’s integrity, and would foil any attempts by external or internal enemies to destabilise the country.

    “We have been fighting conventional wars, then sub-conventional wars and now, we are facing a hybrid war,” he said. “We know the nature of this war and how to fight it.”

    The DG ISPR said that efforts were being made to weaken Pakistan externally. He said that some elements were trying to destabilise the country by making people fight with one another. “Some people are dreaming that they can defeat Pakistan. This will not happen. If we know about the threat, then our response is also in place.”

    He said that the prime minister (PM) and army chief had spoken in detail over the verdict, and the government would soon inform the nation about the decisions taken by the two.

    “The armed forces are not an institution, but are like a family,” Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said.

    REFERENCE AGAINST SETH:

    Meanwhile, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor Khan has strongly condemned the detailed verdict of the special court and said that the government would take action against the judge who proposed public hanging.

    Terming the judgement as “illegal, unconstitutional and immoral”, he said that an action would be taken against the judges concerned under Article 209 of the constitution.

    “I will take steps for declaring the verdict null and void after returning from Istanbul. This matter will be sent to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Pakistan for holding an inquiry against the judge,” the AGP said while talking to ARY News.

    He added that the verdict was seemingly given on the basis of personal enmity and a legal plea would be filed to nullify the verdict in accordance with the law. “It [the verdict] has damaged the reputation of the armed forces as it is an apparent attack against the institution.”

    “A person must not be allowed to continue to perform their duties as a judge when they are mentally ill. This position is not for a person who gives verdicts against the constitution, law and the religion,” he maintained.

    READ DETAILED VERDICT: