Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that the government would launch a probe into letters laced with a “suspicious powder” received by the judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts in Islamabad and Lahore. On Tuesday, letters were delivered to all eight Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges in white envelopes sealed with cello-tape. The names of the judges and …

President Asif Ali Zardari assured Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong on Thursday that Pakistan would take necessary measures to ensure the security of Chinese nationals working on projects in the country. The meeting between the two comes a week after five Chinese engineers — and their Pakistani driver — were killed in a suicide bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bisham while travelling between Islamabad …

LAHORE: A high-level police inquiry into the case of attempted rape of a 12-year-old boy in Tandlianwala, Faisalabad, has declared the acquittal of the suspect nominated in the initial FIR on the mediation of a ‘Jirga/Panchayat’ a blatant violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment, Dawn has learnt from reliable sources. The Supreme Court’s landmark judgment had appeared in January 2019 when the legal status of the …

ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Tuesday denounced the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone the Senate polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and called it a continuation of the “mandate theft” plot. In a statement, a party spokesperson said the postponement of Senate elections for not administering the oath to members on reserved seats in the provincial assembly was “ridiculous” because …

ISLAMABAD: The counsel for former prime minister Imran Khan urged the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday to discard the testimony of the former principal secretary to PM in the cipher case, since it was ostensibly obtained under dubious circumstances. Barrister Salman Safdar made this argument before an IHC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan …

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 …