ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Babar Sattar Friday dismissed a petition filed by the Intelligence Bureau seeking withdrawal of its objection on the bench hearing the audio leaks case. IB filed the withdrawal plea just days after the court had fined three other government departments for filing their objection in the same case. Earlier this week, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were slapped with a Rs500,000 fine for their objection plea seeking Justice Sattar’s recusal in the aforementioned case. Meanwhile, IB was not fined at the time, but the…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KHUZDAR: At least three people, including journalist Mohammad Siddiq Mengal, were killed in a remote-controlled blast in Khuzdar, police told Geo News on Friday. Mengal, a local veteran journalist and president of the Khuzdar Press Club, was targeted in the deadly blast when he was going to university from his home, the station house officer said, adding that his car was the target. At least eight people were also injured as a result of the deadly explosion. Two injured individuals in the blast later succumbed to their injuries with the death toll rising to three, said the station house officer. The killed passers-by were…
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which is a US based non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called on the authorities concerned in Pakistan to probe the “death threats and online harassment” against senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir. The CPJ’s statement comes after Mir, who is affiliated with Geo News and hosts “Capital Talk” programme, informed CPJ that he had received multiple death threats on social media and warnings that his life was in danger. According to CPJ, Mir also reported the death threats to the police in Islamabad last week. So far, no first information report (FIR) has been registered while the investigation into the matter…
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will no longer be investigating or dealing with electronic crimes under its Cyber Crime Wing as the federal government has established another body afresh to do the task. The new National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) will probe the electronic crimes as the cybercrime wing stood defunct, a notification issued by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication on Friday read. The ministry said that the government took the decision in exercise of powers conferred by section 51 read with section 29 of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, 2016. “There shall hereby stand established…
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan has said that his party is ready to hold talks with any “political or other powers”, however, it will be centred on the release of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan and other detainees instead of striking a “deal”. Imran’s aide made the key statement after meeting the former prime minister at Adiala Jail on Friday. Ali said that he waited too long to meet the party founder, adding that the people firmly standing with “Imran are facing difficulties” in the country. He said that they are ready to hold dialogues with anyone whether…
President Asif Ali Zardari, in light of the March 22 verdict of the Supreme Court (SC), gave the go-ahead to issue a retirement notification to former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui. Last month, the top court declared the removal of Justice Siddiqui illegal, directing that he may now be considered as a retired judge. The decision was announced by a five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Fazi Isa in a 23-page judgment. According to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariate, the notification will be applicable from June 30,…
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) loyalist Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has been nominated by the party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for the governorship of Punjab, after mulling over ‘three more names’, including Qamar Zaman Kaira, Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood and Chaudhry Riaz. Saleem Haider — a PPP loyalist — belongs to Punjab’s Attock district who also served as a former federal minister and prime minister’s aide for overseas Pakistanis in the previous tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. Additionally, the politician is also the president of the Bilawal-led party’s Rawalpindi division. The former minister, speaking to Geo News, confirmed that he was…
In a shocking incident, a highway police officer was killed and two others sustained bullet injuries when unidentified assailants, aboard a car, opened fire on them before a verbal brawl on a traffic challan. According to the police, the incident took place when the cops served a challan on the car driver at Bedra Interchange in Mansehra. The car was travelling from Peshawar to Mansehra. As per Mansehra District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur, the surrounding areas were cordoned off after the firing and launched a search operation for the arrest of suspects. The deceased police officer was identified as…
KARACHI: The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Friday announced the commencement of month-long special flight operations for Hajj pilgrims in Pakistan from May 9 to June 9. All flights scheduled for the first 15 days would land at the Madina airport, while most flights will land at the Jeddah airport from May 24 to June 9, the ministry’s spokesperson said. The country would operate 11 special flights to transport 2,160 Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia on the first day of the scheduled operation, including 330 passengers from Karachi via 2 flights, 680 from Islamabad via 3 flights, 670 from Lahore…
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — the top ally of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) at the Centre — is all set to get two more key “constitutional positions” in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under the “power-sharing deal” as they nominated two loyalists, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan and Faisal Karim Kundi, for the governor’s slots in both provinces, respectively. Saleem Haider — a PPP loyalist — belongs to Punjab’s Attock district who also served as a former federal minister and prime minister’s aide for overseas Pakistanis in the previous tenure of the Nawaz-led party. Additionally, the politician is…
