Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A Lahore-based lawyer, who recently moved a reference against a Supreme Court judge, on Monday regretted that the judge concerned was not only heading a bench but also included in a bench presided over by the chief justice of Pakistan instead of facing the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) proceedings. In a two-page letter to CJP Umar Ata Bandial, Advocate Mian Dawood …

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet on Monday approved the Haj Package 2023 with an increase of 56pc in cost, while around 89,605 Haj seats will be pitched for a sponsorship scheme that may help to shave off $445 million in foreign exchange requirement for the exercise. The ECC meeting, which was presided over by Finance …

KARACHI: The Federal Shariat Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act of 2013, saying that the law was not against the injunctions of Islam. It observed that the legislature’s move to fix a minimum age for marriage was in accordance with injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah. The …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will seek appointment of District Retu­rning Officers (DROs) and Retu­rning Officers (ROs) drawn from judiciary for the general election to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies, a senior official of the ECP. The decision to write to high courts of the two provinces comes in light of the Supreme Court’s judgement in polls …

PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said former prime minister Imran Khan has never made any request to meet Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, terming the “speculations in this regard as baseless”. In a tweet, the former information minister also clarified that neither the PTI chief nor “any of his representatives likewise (sic) the President has never …

LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: A day after Islamabad police returned empty-handed from its mission to arrest Imran Khan, former prime minister Imran Khan refused to cooperate with a National Accounta­bility Bureau (NAB) team on Monday, which visited his house in Zaman Park to serve summons in connection with the prohibited funding case. On the other hand, the PTI chairman failed to secure relief …

ISLAMABAD: Months after it took away most of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) powers through amendments in its law, the government is now mulling a proposal to vest the accountability watchdog’s chief with more authority. According to a government source, a draft would soon be presented before the federal cabinet in this regard. It will authorise the NAB chairman to …

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rafia Haider and Aurat March organisers to sit together and finalise the location for the March 8 rally by 2pm today. The Aurat March organising committee had last month requested a no objection certificate (NOC) from the district administration to hold a rally on March 8 at Nasser …

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said an Afghan delegation was expected in Pakistan soon in continuation of talks related to various issues including regional security and counter-terrorism measures. The minister’s statement comes more than a week after a high-level Pakistani delegation, led by Asif, visited Kabul to meet with officials of the Afghan interim government to discuss a variety of issues …

Nine individuals, including eight policemen and one civilian, were martyred in a suicide attack on a Balochistan Constabulary van in the Dhadar tehsil of the Kacchi district in Bolan on Monday. According to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, the blast occurred at 10am on the Kambri bridge in the area bordering the Sibi and Kachhi districts. He said the police van …