Blaze News - Pakistan

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to provide renowned journalist Asad Toor with the details of the allegations against him in connection with a summons issued by the agency over allegedly spreading "fake information". The NCCIA on Wednesday issued a notice to Toor, directing him to appear before the agency in connection with an inquiry into the alleged dissemination of "false information". According to a notice issued by the NCCIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre, and also shared by the journalist on his X account, Toor was summoned under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in connection with the inquiry. The directions came during the hearing of Toor's petition challenging the NCCIA notice. Advocate Ataullah Kundi, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, argued that his client could not respond to the allegations because they had not been informed of their nature. ...

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has rolled out a Transport Monetisation Policy, enabling judicial officers serving in the district judiciary across Punjab to purchase their officially allotted vehicles at depreciated rates. The policy has been enforced with retrospective effect from July 1, 2026. As part of the new arrangement, judicial officers will no longer be entitled to official fuel, maintenance or driver facilities for personal use. Read: Punjab judges to get subsidised cars In place of these benefits, they will receive a monthly transport monetisation allowance, the amount of which will be fixed by the competent authority and revised from time to time in accordance with fuel prices and prevailing economic conditions. According to a notification issued by the LHC registrar, Chief Justice Aalia Neelum approved the policy in line with the decisions of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) and the Punjab cabinet. A major component of the policy allows j...

All eyes are on the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which last week ordered Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, as well as the ministers for interior and defence, to appear in person today (Monday) in connection with a case related to enforced disappearances. An IHC bench comprising Puisne Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on February 13 summoned the country’s interim chief executive and his two cabinet members due to failure of the government authorities to recover some missing Baloch students despite repeated assurances. Earlier, on November 22, 2023, the court had instructed the government to recover the missing students within seven days. It had noted that in case the authorities failed to comply with the order, PM Kakar accompanied by his ministers and secretaries for interior and defence would appear in the court. On November 29, the interim PM did not appear in court due to a foreign visit. The government, however, made repeated assurances to the court that the students would retu...

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will take up tomorrow [Monday] PTI chief Imran Khan's petition seeking "rectification" of its August 28 order, through which the court had suspended the sentence awarded to the former prime minister in the gift repository case. The IHC bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Babar Sattar, will also hear the objections raised by the court's registrar office to the petition. The petition also seeks to name the state as respondent in the case. A trial court on August 5 convicted former PM Imran in the Toshakhana case, sentencing him to three years in prison while disqualifying him as a lawmaker for five years. The PTI chief moved the IHC against the trial court's order and a single-member bench of the IHC on August 28 suspended his sentence. However, as the bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, did not suspend the operation of the trial court's August 5 order along with the sentence, Imran cann...

To comply with the Supreme Court’s order of striking down some sections of the amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) of 1999 by the previous government, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to revive over 81 corruption cases involving prominent politicians, including Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, and others. The anti-graft body on Wednesday filed an application at the Islamabad accountability court to reopen the corruption cases. A copy of the Supreme Court judgment calling for restoration of the cases against public office holders was attached with the plea. In the judgment, a three-member bench, comprising the then chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah gave details of the number of cases and the total amount of money involved in the cases. The judgment came with a 2-1 majority, as Justice Shah wrote the note of dissent. The apex court’s decision on PTI chief Imran Khan’s plea, challenging the amendment...

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court sought arguments on Thursday on a plea from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan for suspension of his sentence in Toshakhana case. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, issued notices on plea related to facilities to the PTI chairman in the Attock District Jail. The PTI chairman’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris did not appear in the court. However, he was represented by other lawyers including Latif Khosa, Babar Awan, Sher Afzal Marwat and Barrister Gohar Ali. Khosa told the court the report of Attock district and sessions judge’s visit to the district jail had come out, which revealed that a camera had been installed in front of PTI chairman’s barrack. Marwat complained that the lawyers were not being allowed to meet the PTI chairman. However, Chief Justice Farooq remarked that it was beyond comprehension as to why such a meeting was prevented. He reminded that he had ordered that t...

In a yet again surprising turn of events, on Saturday the trial court hearing the Toshakhana case against former premier Imran Khan declared him guilty and sentenced him to three years in jail, ordering for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief to be immediately arrested. Shortly after the decision, the party's Punjab chapter took to Twitter to state that the former premier is being shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail.  عمران خان کو کوٹ لکھپٹ جیل منتقل کیا جا رہا ہے — PTI Punjab (@PTIPunjabPK) August 5, 2023   The verdict, issued by Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, comes amid the PTI chief's contentions on both the maintainability of the case and repeated transfer requests based on percieved biasness of the judge.  A day after the Islamabad High Court directed the PTI chief's legal team to take up the matter of maintainability with the trial court again, Justice Dilawar had sought arguments on maintainability. He had also warned the PTI chief's lega...

An unidentified man reportedly threw a water bottle at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan while he was at the Katcheri in Islamabad on Monday. The former prime minister escaped unhurt. According to reports, the PTI chief was making his way to the court of Judge Humayun Dilawar. Poor security arrangements led to the incident. Two days ago, a trial court in Islamabad had granted one-day exemption to former prime minister from appearing in the Toshakhana case. The court had resumed proceedings on a criminal complaint filed against the former premier by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) pertaining to alleged concealing of details about state gifts. Read Trial court's decision in Toshakhana case challenged Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar accepted the PTI chief’s plea for exemption while directing him to ensure his presence before the court on Monday (July 24). Submitting the plea for exemption, the defendant’s lawyer Barrister Gohar Ali reques...