Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Thursday regretted that crucial tenure-based assignments in different courts and tribunals were being repeatedly allocated to retired judges of the High Courts and District and Sessions Judges. This practice warrants immediate attention and resolution, said a statement issued by Vice Chairman (PBC) Riazat Ali Sahar and Chairman, Executive Committee, Farooq Hamid Naek, acknowledging the invaluable …

ISLAMABAD: Days after dropping a bombshell by confessing that he played a role in rigging the elections to make the losers win in Rawalpindi Division, former commissioner of Rawalpindi, Liaquat Ali Chattha on Thursday supposedly backtracked on his allegations. In a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary, a copy of which was seen by Dawn, Mr Chattha said last week’s …

ISLAMABAD: As expec­ted, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to meet the legal deadline for uploading key result-related documents on its website on Thursday. Moreover, it seems unlikely that the process will be completed any time soon, with a senior ECP official claiming that uploading over 90,000 Forms 45s on its website would be a time-consuming exercise. However, the …

A Lahore district and sessions court on Friday sent anchorperson Imran Riaz, who was arrested last night, to jail in a corruption case. Riaz was arrested late last night from his home, with visuals of the arrest going viral on social media. The PTI has decried the arrest and called for Riaz’s immediate release. Riaz was presented before Judicial Magistrate …

Amid protests and delays, newly elected representatives were sworn into the Punjab Assembly on Friday. The session was summoned by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman a day earlier after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) partially notified lawmakers on seats reserved for women and minorities. The Punjab Assembly is the largest elected house in the country, with 371 seats, comprising 297 …

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Wednes­day transferred Multan Division Commissioner Muhammad Abdul Aamer Khattak and posted him as Rawalpindi Division Commissioner. The reshuffle relieves Rawalpindi Development Authority Director General Muhammad Saif Anwar Jappa of additional charge of the Pindi commissioner post. The post of Rawalpindi Division commissioner had fallen vacant when the then office-holder, Liaqat Ali Chattha, tendered his resignation after alleging …

GILGIT: The Karako­ram Highway (KKH) and Baltistan Road have once again been shut down due to landslides triggered by heavy snowfall and rain. The closures, announced on Wednesday, follow brief periods of restoration for light traffic earlier in the week, aggravating the challenges faced by both residents and tourists due to adverse weather. An official of the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Mana­gement Authority told the region’s …

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a petition by PTI-backed independent candidate Advocate Salman Akram Raja seeking contempt proceedings against the NA-128 returning officer (RO). Earlier, a counsel for the petitioner stated that the court had previously ordered the RO to make a decision according to the law based on Raja’s request. However, he said the RO …

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Commissioner (DC) Irfan Nawaz Memon on Wednesday surrendered to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the contempt of court case after Justice Babar Sattar had barred his exit from every route, including border crossing, seaports and airports, a day earlier. Justice Sattar also issued non-bailable arrest warrants of DC Memon after he skipped the hearing of the contempt …

ISLAMABAD: An environmental sample collected from Balochistan’s Lasbela district has tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). The virus was found in a sewage sample collected from Lasbela, an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) said. Federal Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan said that as long as this virus …