NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan held a meeting with World Bank’s Vice President for the South Asia Region Martin Raiser in Washington D.C to advance cooperation between Pakistan and the World Bank in the development and climate response sectors.
The Ambassador thanked World Bank for contributing two billion dollars towards flood recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction during International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in Geneva which would cover support for housing, water and agriculture, social protection and health, among others.
He said that the World Bank has been a resolute development partner of Pakistan.
Masood Khan requested the Bank for additional financing and assistance for health related projects, especially to address the issue of water-borne diseases in the flood affected areas.
He also solicited Bank’s support in transitioning from adaptation and mitigation to building resilience. He said that Pakistan is committed to ensuring transparent and effective mechanism for disbursement of funds for the flood affectees.
Masood Khan said establishment of an International Partners Support Group (IPSG) would soon be announced for this purpose.
He also thanked the Bank for releasing around 1.2 billion dollars of committed funds for various ongoing projects in Pakistan.
Martin Raiser said that World Bank remains committed to Pakistan’s long-term development with emphasis on transitioning to renewable energy especially hydro and solar power.
Appreciating the existing cooperation between the Bank and the relevant agencies of Government of Pakistan, he said that this cooperation would be optimized in the years to come.
ISLAMABAD: District and Sessions Court in the federal capital suspended the non-bailable arrest warrants of PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan in woman judge threat case.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Islamabad Faizan Haider Gillani suspended the warrants till March 16 after Imran Khan challenged the decision of a district and sessions court. A legal team comprising Advocate Naeem Haider Panjutha and Advocate Intizar Haider Panjutha represented the PTI chief in the case.
Senior Civil Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for PTI chief Imran Khan over his continuous skipping of court hearings. The case against the former prime minister was registered on Aug 20, 2022, with the Margalla police station in the federal capital over his remarks at a rally in F9 Park where he warned Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and police higher-ups of dire consequences for what he called their ‘biased’ attitude towards his party.
Imran alleged that Judge Zeba knew that incarcerated party leader Shahbaz Gill was tortured, but she did not release him on bail. The former premier was booked in a terrorism case on the complaint of Islamabad Saddar Magistrate Ali Javed for threatening the additional sessions judge.
The hearing was presided over by Judge Rana Mujahid Rahim who instructed police to arrest the ousted premier and present him before the court by March 29. The judge added that the court would hear arguments on a petition seeking Imran’s dismissal from the case during the next hearing.
A district and sessions court in the federal capital on Monday restored the arrest warrants issued against PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal announced the verdict reserved earlier in the day after hearing arguments from the PTI chief’s lawyer. The judge turned down his exemption plea and ordered the authorities to produce the suspect before court on March 18.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Tuesday reserved verdict in the suo motu case taken up to determine who has the authority to announce a date for the elections. The verict will be announced at 11 am tomorrow (Wednesday).
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Shah and Justice Mandokhail will pronounce the verdict on Wednesday at 11am.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial thanked all the lawyers for assisting the apex court throughout the hearing.
“I cannot say when will we be back [to announce the verdict],” the CJP added.
Earlier today, the court directed the political parties – both in power and opposition – to sit together to work out the date for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections.
The apex court directed PTI leaders Shireen Mazari and Fawad Chaudhry to hold consultation with party chairman, Imran Khan, and legal team of the ruling coalition to consult with their leaders on the election date.
The latest directive was issued after the three ruling parties – PML-N, PPP and JUI-F – withdrew the plea seeking formation of the full bench to hear the suo motu case following the recusal of four judges from the bench. While withdrawing the petition, Farooq H Naek said the ruling partners did not want to pursue the plea.
Justice Mansoor remarked the political parties should think about the country instead of indulging in the legal battle.
Previously, the case was being heard by the nine-member bench but it split on Monday into a five-judge bench after four judges – Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah – recused themselves from hearing the case.
At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi raised objection about Islamabad Bar Council lawyer Abid Zuberi, saying his name was removed from the previous order of the top court. CJP Bandial remarked that an order became a decree when it was signed by the judges. He then allowed Mr Zuberi to submit his arguments.
At one point during the hearing, Justice Mandokhail asked if the governors and president were bound to take advice from the cabinet in the matter. “Can they announce the date for polls on their own?” he questioned.
The chief justice observed there was no need to take an advice when a person had a discretionary authority.
The CJP then inquired, “Who can issue the notification of dissolving the assemblies?” Abid Zuberi said the law secretary had issued the notification to dissolve the assembly. He said the apex court had declared in the past that elections were to be held within 90 days.
Meanwhile, Justice Mandokhail commented on the authority of the president to issue the date for elections, remarking that the Article 48 of the Constitution explained that every action of the president should be based on the recommendation of the government. At this, the CJP remarked: “This means that the announcement of the date for polls will be on advice of the government”.
However, Abid Zuberi argued that the governor had the authority to dissolve the assemblies. When the CJP asked, “Who will then issue the notification of the dissolution of assemblies?”
The lawyer said the governor had to issue a notification of dissolution of the assembly on the advice of the chief minister. He said the assemblies automatically stood dissolved within 48 hours of sending the advice whether the summary was signed by the governor or not. In this case, the notification of the dissolution was issued by the law secretary and not the governor, he said.
Justice Mandokhail observed that the government could still ask the governor for giving a date for elections today as per the Constitution. Justice Shah asked whether the president could refuse to approve an advice of the governments.
In the previous hearing, the PML-N, the PPP, the JUI-F and other parties raised objection against two judges of the nine-member bench of the apex court, saying a full bench should be made to hear the case.The ruling coaltition has also submitted an application seeking formation of the full bench case.
ISLAMABAD: Federal ministers and prime minister’s aides spent Rs65.21 million on their foreign trips from January 1, 2022, to December 2022, National Assembly (NA) was told.
As reported by The News on Tuesday, a list detailing the money spent on foreign visits was presented in NA, in a written reply to the question of the Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) parliamentary leader Ghaus Bakhsh Mehar. The lawmaker had sought the details of foreign trips conducted by the federal ministers, state ministers, and advisors between January 1, 2022, and December 2022.
The detailed list shared by the Cabinet Division showed that Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel tops the list with an expenditure of Rs10.42 million on his foreign visits.
Similarly, Rs3.78 million was spent on Minister for Board of Investment Chaudhry Salik Hussain’s visites, and Rs4.91 million on the foreign visits of Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman.
At least, Rs1.84 million were spent on visits by Minister for Communication Maulana Asad Mehmood and Rs5.89 million on the foreign visits of Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar.
Moreover, Rs0.935 million was also spent on the foreign visits of Zubaida Jalal, the minister for defence production in Imran Khan’s cabinet.
The list also shows that Rs2.5 million was borne by the national exchequer on the foreign visits of Minister for Defence Production Israr Tareen while Rs3.167 million on the foreign visits of Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
It also mentioned that Rs2.60 million was also spent on the foreign visits of Khurram Dastgir and Rs3.5 million on the foreign trips of the Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum Division) Dr Musadik Malik.
The list goes on to mention that, Rs1.5 million (Rs1,529,964) were also spent from the taxpayer’s money on the trips of former minister for economic affairs Omar Ayub Khan, Rs0.912 million on the former minister for federal education and professional training Shafqat Mehmood. While Mehmood’s successor, Rana Tanveer Hussain spent only Rs178,401 on his foreign visits.
The list also showed that former finance minister senator Shaukat Tarin spent Rs912,239 on his foreign visits and Rs4.59 million was spent by his successor Miftah Ismail.
The list mentioned that Rs2.45 million was borne by the national exchequer on the foreign trips of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Rs4.096 million was spent on the visits of the Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Rs1.54 million on the visits of Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari and Rs619,157 on visits of Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.
Meanwhile, Rs1.8 million of the taxpayer’s money was also spent on the trips of Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haq, Rs818,646 on Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Rs805,954 on Minister for Maritimes Affairs Senator Faisal Sabzwari, Rs3.117 million on Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajid Hussain Turi, Rs1.58 million on Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Justice Shazia Marri and Rs791,256 on Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor.
Similarly, Rs39,850 was also spent on the visits of a former national security advisor Moeed Yousaf to Kabul and Rs19,296 to China. Imran Khan’s advisor on commerce Abdul Razak Dawood spent Rs466,285 and Rs481,854 on visits to Dubai.
An amount of Rs328,332 was spent on the foreign trips of former special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) on social protection and poverty alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar to Dubai, Rs195,309 on ex-SAPM on climate change Malik Amin Aslam to Saudi Arabia, Rs457,383 on ex-SAPM on tourism coordination Azam Jamil to Dubai and Rs1,437,139 on SAPM on poverty alleviation Faisal Karim Kundi’s visit to Egypt and Rs1,333,960 on a visit to Istanbul.
The NA was also informed that Rs57.36 million was spent on the purchase of eight new vehicles for the protocol squad of foreign guests.
In a written reply to a question by Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto, the NA was informed that the vehicles include one 29-seater Toyota VIP Coaster (Model 2022) costing Rs17,154,000, 14 seaters Toyota high roof van (Model 2022) costing Rs10,772,000 and six 1800cc Toyota Corolla Cars (Model 2022) costing Rs29,400,000.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday inaugurated Schools on Wheel project to provide education to the children especially in the rural areas at their doorsteps.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister was appreciative of the initiative saying it will be a singular contribution towards nation building efforts.
He was confident that this program will bring revolution in the rural areas by equipping hundreds of thousands children there with education.
The Prime Minister directed to widen the scope of this program to all the four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Earlier, Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain briefed the Prime Minister about various aspects of this project saying the initiative is initially being launched with eight buses. He said food will also be provided to the children getting education through these mobile schools.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister also interacted with the students and teachers.
WASHINGTON: The White House gave the government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices and systems.
In a bid to keep U.S. data safe, all federal agencies must eliminate TikTok from phones and systems and prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told agencies in a guidance memorandum.
The ban, ordered by Congress late last year, follows similar actions from Canada, the EU, Taiwan and more than half of U.S. states.
The device ban — while impacting a tiny portion of TikTok’s U.S. user base — adds fuel to calls for an outright ban on the video-sharing app. National security concerns about China surged in recent weeks after a Chinese balloon drifted over the U.S.
ByteDance-owned TikTok has said the concerns are fueled by misinformation and has denied using the app to spy on Americans.
The action does not affect the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices. TikTok did not immediately comment on the White House memo.
Congress in December voted to bar federal employees from using the Chinese-owned video app on government-owned devices and gave the Biden administration 60 days to issue agency directives. The vote was the latest action by U.S. lawmakers to crack down on Chinese companies amid national security fears that Beijing could use them to spy on Americans.
Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said “this guidance is part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy.”
Many government agencies including the White House, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department had banned TikTok from government devices before the vote.
The TikTok ban does not apply if there are national security, law enforcement or security research activities but agency leadership must approve these activities, Young’s memo said and “blanket exceptions applying to an entire agency are not permitted.”
On Tuesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to vote on a bill that would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban TikTok from all U.S. devices.
“My bill empowers the administration to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten U.S. national security,” Representative Mike McCaul, the committee chair, said. “Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the (Chinese Communist Party) a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your phone.”
The American Civil Liberties Union said it opposed a congressional ban on TikTok.
The White House memo said within 90 days, agencies must address any use of TikTok by IT vendors through contracts and with 120 days agencies will include a new prohibition on TikTok in all new solicitations.
ISLAMABAD: Casting doubts on the transparency of the case-assigning procedure, Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa Tuesday refused to hear the scheduled cases after the registrar shook up the benches without keeping the concerned judges and other stakeholders in the loop.
The registrar reshuffled the benches today and replaced Justice Hasan Rizvi with another judge after which Justice Isa and Justice Yahya Afridi raised objections to the allocation of cases.
The judges questioned the procedure of assigning cases in the top court. During the hearing, the court also summoned the registrar of the Supreme Court along with all the records.
“I am a Supreme Court judge and have been the chief justice of Balochistan High Court for five years,” said Justice Isa, adding that he wants transparency.
“How will there be transparency if the registrar transfers a case from one bench to another?” he questioned.
“It seems like the registrar has more power than a judge like me,” he said, adding, “He cannot hear the cases from the year 2010 as the registrar appoints the judges by himself”.
“Can I ask the registrar to appoint a specific case to a specific bench?” Justice Isa asked.
At this, the registrar said that the hearing of the cases is scheduled only after Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial’s approval.
“The bench included Justice Hasan Rizvi. Why did it change?” questioned Justice Afridi.
Amanullah, former president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) said people had tired themselves out by asking but their cases were not fixed for hearing.
“What is the policy behind the allocation of cases?” Justice Isa asked the SC registrar.
He said that the court had ordered the registrar on April 2, 2022, to set the procedure for scheduling cases.
Justice Isa said there was no transparency in the case-assigning procedure at the registrar’s office.
“Why were mine and Justice Yahya Afridi’s benches changed?” he asked the registrar and argued that changing the benches without informing the stakeholders created suspicions in the minds of the people.
The registrar said that the chief justice’s staff officer made a proposal regarding the reshuffling of benches on verbal instructions.
He added that the officer had said that the roster of the judges was to be changed on the chief justice’s directives.
Justice Yahya Afridi asked the registrar how was the weekly roster changed. “Was this roster set by Chief Justice rather than you (registrar)?” Justice Afridi asked.
“The initial roster is sent to the Chief Justice after setting the benches,” the registrar responded.
To this Justice Isa said, “think before you speak, people look to Supreme Court for justice”.
“Present the file and the approval upon which the note was sent,” Qazi Isa told the registrar. “Sir, there’s no file, we send it on paper like this one,” the registrar responded.
“You kill half the justice if you bring my brother’s case forward for hearing on my behest by pushing the scheduled ones back,” Justice Isa remarked.
“I am sorry to the petitioners and the lawyers, I will not be conducting the hearings today,” said Justice Isa, adding that a reason was not given regarding the sudden change of benches.
“The sudden change in benches and the rescheduling of the cases cast doubts on the whole judicial process,” he remarked.
He said that Article 10-A was about basic rights, “which say that a person shall be entitled to due process”.
“There should be legal reasons to change a bench,” he said, adding that the dignity of the judiciary would be affected if there was no transparency.
“The cases that were filed first should get precedence and be heard first,” he added.
ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in the federal capital on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrant for PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case.
Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal issued the warrant on non-appearance in the case while rejecting the exemption plea of former prime minister. Earlier, Imran Khan filed a petition seeking adjournment of the case for five days due to his tight schedule as he was to appear in other courts today.
The former prime minister’s lawyer, Ali Bokhari, told the judge that his client was coming to Islamabad from Lahore as he was due to appear before two other courts in the Judicial Complex. He said his client would not be able to attend the hearing of the Toshakhana case due to shortage of time.
At this, the judge expressed outrage, stating: “Why he [Imran Khan] cannot appear before court when he is attending hearings in the Judicial Complex?”. He remarked the PTI chief should first come here for indictment and then he could go anywhere.
ECP lawyer Saad Hassan also opposed the adjournment plea, saying the suspect did not want to appear before the court. Later, the judge adjourned the hearing for later today and ordered Imran Khan to appear before him.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has fixed a petition filed by the PTI chief seeking pre-arrest bail plea in the Toshakhana case for hearing later today. Imran Khan is expected to appear in the high court where Justice Aamer Farooq would hear the case.
The Case
Last year, the top electoral body had sent the reference to the district and sessions court under Sections 137, 170, and 167 of the Election Act, seeking initiation of criminal proceedings against Imran Khan for incorrect declaration of assets for 2017-2018 and 2018-19. The ECP, in the petition, has called for a three-year jail term and imposing a fine on the PTI chief.
On Dec 15, the court admitted the commission’s plea against Imran Khan. In its three-page verdict, the court noted that prima facie, the former premier didn’t mention the details of the gifts he acquired from the Toshakhana. In August last, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) moved the ECP against Imran Khan over not filing the details of gifts he obtained from Toshakhana for Rs21.5 million.
Later in October, the ECP, in a unanimous decision, found the former prime minister guilty of “corrupt practices” and disqualified him from being a member of parliament.
ISLAMABAD: Five judges of the nine-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Monday resumed hearing on a suo motu case related to delay in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections after four others dissociated themselves from the case.
The bench originally comprised Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
Last week, Justice Mandokhail, Justice Shah, Justice Afridi and Justice Minallah wrote additional notes in the February 23 decision, raising objection to the constitution of the bench citing various reasons.
CJP Bandial, Justice Shah, Justice Mandokhail, Justice Akhtar and Justice Mazhar are currently hearing the case which has been adjourned till 4pm.
Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi have refused to hear the case after the ruling coalition raised objection against them. It is recalled that Justice Mandokhail in the first hearing of the case called the suo motu action of the top judge unjustified.
At the outset of Monday’s hearing, CJP Bandial remarked that the four judges had shown grace and distanced themselves from the bench. He said the remaining members of the bench would continue to hear the case for the interpretation of the Constitution.
The CJP said the court would again hear the suo motu case at 9:30am tomorrow (Tuesday) and try to wrap it up. Talking about the leak of Justice Mandokhail’s note to social media, he said precautionary measures would be taken to avoid such incidents.
At one point during the hearing, Barrister Ali Zafar said the elections in the provinces should be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the assemblies as per the Constitution. He said the Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered the ECP to hold a meeting with governor to decide a date for elections but that meeting ended without any outcome. Later, the president unilaterally announced the date after the electoral body refused to attend the meeting called by him on the matter.
In the previous hearing, the PML-N, the PPP, the JUI-F and other parties raised objection against two judges of the nine-member bench of the apex court, saying a full bench should be made to hear the case.The ruling coaltition has also submitted an application seeking formation of the full bench case.
Barrister Ali Zafar represented the Punjab and KP speakers. The JUI-F is represented by Kamran Murtaza, PPP by Farooq H Naek, Nayer Bukhar and Farhatullah Babar, PML-N by Mansoor Awan, the Punjab governor by Advocate Mustafa Ramday. Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Zuberi, Islamabad High Court Bar President Shoaib Shaheen and Attorney General of Pakistan Shehzad Ata Elahi and Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman attended Friday’s hearing.
At the outset of the hearing, Mr Naek had raised objections over inclusion of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mazahar Naqvi. He said the suo motu notice was taken by the chief justice on the note of both judges in Ghulam Mahmood Dogar’s service case, therefore, they should separate themselves from the bench. The PPP lawyer also sought formation of the larger bench to hear the poll date case.
Meanwhile, the PML-N, the JUI-F and the PPP had also submitted a joint statement in the court, raising objection to the presence of two judges. They said both judges should not hear the case.
The CJP remarked it was his prerogative to take a suo motu notice. “Today is meant to mark the attendance of all stakeholders,” he said, adding that representatives of all four provinces were present in court. Later, the chief justice adjourned the hearing till Monday.
On Thursday in last week, the bench issued notices to Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Shehzad Ata Elahi, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), government through the cabinet secretary, chief secretaries of Punjab and KP, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), all the advocate generals of the provinces, and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), directing them to submit their arguments on Friday (today).
As no notices can be issued to President Dr Arif Alvi and the two governors under Article 248 that provides them immunity, the apex court has ordered principal secretaries to contact them to get the point of view on the matter.
During Thursday’s hearing, Justice Mandokhel raised objection to the suo motu notice and called it “unjustified”. He said the Punjab and KP speakers had filed their petitions before the apex court’s notice. He said the notice was taken on the note of Justice Naqvi and Justice Ahsan who had given it during the hearing of the case pertaining to transfer of Lahore Capital City Police Officer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar.
He highlighted that the chief election commissioner was summoned by both judges in the case despite the fact that he was not a party in it.
Irrespective of the CEC reply, Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi referred the matter to the CJP to take the suo motu notice. He observed there was no connection between the election and Lahore CCPO’s case. In these circumstances, it was not justified to send the matter to the chief justice to take the suo motu notice under Article 184 (3).
Two other judges – Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah – highlighted other aspects of the case while raising questions about motivation behind dissolution of the assemblies.
CJP Bandial, on the day one, said the bench would hear three related cases and determine who was supposed to give the elections’ dates. He said it was an important case and should be dealt with in line with the Constitution. The apex court, he said, would not tolerate violation of the constitution. He said the schedule of next week had been put off to give due weightage to this case. He said the judges would listen to the viewpoint of all concerned and salient features would be discussed on Friday.
He said multiple factors led the apex court to take the suo motu notice, adding that the 90-day period for conducting provincial elections was running out. He said the matter was also pending with the Lahore High Court, adding that the high court could be bypassed in case of emergency. The CJP remarked, “We want implementation of the Constitution dictates”.
At that point, Barrister Ali Zafar said he wanted to bring some things related to the president’s announcement about the date for elections on the record. The CJP replied Mr Alvi announced the date for elections in the provinces under Section 57 (notification of election programme) of the Elections Act 2017. He said multiple opinions had surfaced about this part of the act and it needed to be interpreted.
Ali Zafar requested the court to take up a relevant petition filed by him. However, CJP Bandial remarked that the court was looking into three different matters. “We have to determine who has the authority to give date for elections after the dissolution of the assemblies”.
At one point during the hearing, the attorney general of Pakistan sought time from the court for preparation in the case. He said it would be difficult to come up with preparation during Friday’s hearing if so many notices were issued to people. In reply, the top judge said the court would discuss only essential things, adding that the detailed hearing of the case would be held on Monday next week.
He said the court wanted to wrap up the case as soon as possible and the time given by the Constitution for the election was running out. Saying the court would not tolerate violation of the Constitution, the CJP remarked the time for elections could only be extended if there was a serious situation. He said the situation had changed after the president announced a date for the elections. The top court would see the constitutional points in the case and then implement it, he added.
ISLAMABAD: The U.S. government’s Priority 1 and Priority 2, known as P1 and P2 refugee programs were meant to fast track visas for at-risk Afghans including journalists and rights activists after the Taliban takeover in their homeland.
Those eligible must have worked for the U.S. government, a U.S.-based media organization or nongovernmental organization in Afghanistan, and must be referred by the U.S.-based employer.
Applicants have been waiting in Pakistan for more than one and a half years for U.S. officials to process their visa applications.
The delay in approving visas and resettlement has left Afghan applicants in a highly vulnerable position as they contend with economic hardship and lack of access to health, education and other services in Pakistan.
