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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned six petitioners, including a former joint secretary and a former railways police chief, who had filed a joint petition seeking regulation of media freedom, but are now trying to withdraw it after a gap of two years. “So they took the Supreme Cou­rt for a merry-go-round,” regretted Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi …

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Wednesday asserted that “any attack” on the judiciary’s independence would not be tolerated as he hinted at forming a full court to hear a suo motu case pertaining to allegations of interference in judicial affairs. He made the remarks as the Supreme Court took up the case pertaining to allegations made …

Bulls dominated the trade floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday as shares gained over 800 points, reaching an all-time high. The KSE-100 index gained 704 points, or 1.05 per cent, to stand at 67,590.26 at 12:01pm from the previous close 66,886.26 points. It closed at 67,756.03, up by 869.77 or 1.3pc, from the previous close. On March …

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday summoned the interior secretary on April 17 to give detailed reasons for the shutdown of social media platform X — which has been inaccessible since February. The directives came as the court heard a petition challenging the “ban” on X. Access to X has been disrupted in Pakistan since February 17, when former Rawal­pindi …

In a meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir on Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari noted with concern “baseless and unsubstantiated allegations levelled by a specific political party and its few individuals” against the army for their political interests. The development came as COAS Munir met the Zardari at the Presidency, according to an official handout. According to …

The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Wednesday said that the country is facing a 30 per cent water shortage at the start of the sowing season for cash crops such as rice and cotton. Irsa said the gap is based on lower than normal winter snowfall in the northern areas, affecting catchment areas of the Indus and Jhelum Rivers …

A day after all eight Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges received letters laced with a suspicious toxic chemical, police said four Lahore High Court (LHC) judges had also received letters but refrained from commenting on the nature of the missives. On Tuesday, letters were delivered to the IHC judges in white envelopes sealed with cello-tape. The names of the judges and the …

ISLAMABAD: As development spending continued to falter in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, successive governments kept doling out funds for the discretionary schemes of parliamentarians, according to official data. In the past eight months, parliamentarians consumed Rs38 billion out of the allocated Rs90bn in the budget for their schemes, as per the latest data on development …

ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has rejected the seven-member larger bench headed by the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) to probe the six judges’ letter documenting the intelligence agencies’ interference in judicial affairs, demanding the matter be heard by the full court instead of “like-minded judges” and that the proceedings should be televised. Speaking at a press conference along with former …

ISLAMABAD: The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — the new home for PTI lawmakers-elect — on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the Peshawar High Court (PHC) order that deprived the party of seats reserved for women and minorities. Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker has also approached the PHC against its division bench’s directive for him to …