LAHORE: Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Punjab president Dr Yasmin Rashid has criticised PML-N President Nawaz Sharif for making “false statements” about not believing in political victimisation. In a letter written from jail and shared with the media on Friday, she accused Sharif and his daughter, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, of arresting and re-arresting women prisoners, including Sanam Javed and Aaliya Hamza, in …
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has dismissed a Punjab government reference against the presiding judge of a Rawalpindi antiterrorism court whom the latter accused of favouring PTI founding chairman Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, incarcerated in Adiala jail. “The prosecution department has been informed by the high court about the dismissal of the reference,” Prosecutor General …
ISLAMABAD: In a rare but apparent downgrade, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will personally head the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), instead of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, as he notified the newly formed eight-member centre-provincial forum. This marks the first time in decades that a finance minister will not chair Ecnec, a subordinate committee of the constitutional forum traditionally led …
ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday slashed the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) for the next fortnight by Rs10.2 and Rs2.33, respectively. In a notification, the finance ministry said the prices of petroleum products had seen a mixed trend in the international market in the last fortnight. It said Ogra had worked out the consumer prices based on the …
ISLAMABAD: After a seeming change of heart in the PTI to reach out to the government to end the political impasse, the party on Friday walked back and said it would not talk with “three parties”. In February, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan had said that party founder Imran Khan had given instructions to initiate contact with all other political parties, except the PML-N, PPP …
LAHORE: The Lahore police on Friday released anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan after a local court discharged him from a fresh case in which he was arrested a day ago. Riaz was taken into custody at the Allama Iqbal International Airport late on Tuesday night in a case of monetary fraud. The visuals of the arrest, which showed the journalist clad in an …
RAWALPINDI: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad on Friday said he has received complaints and letters — many verbally — of interference in judicial matters by “institutions”. Addressing an event in Rawalpindi, Justice Ahmad asserted, “I have full faith that this interference of the establishment in the judiciary will come to its end very soon.” He explained …
ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad on Thursday acquitted former prime minister Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and others in a case registered with the Industrial Area police station in connection with the ‘Azadi March’. Judicial Magistrate Malik Imran ordered their acquittal for want of evidence. The police registered the FIR against Mr Khan, Mr Qureshi, Sheikh …
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission has challenged the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to appoint six tribunals to settle election disputes in Punjab. In a petition moved before the Supreme Court on Thursday, the electoral watchdog also questioned whether the ECP or LHC has the final say in the appointment of tribunals. On May 29, while hearing petitions filed by PTI-backed independent candidates …
LAHORE: Amid massive in-house protests by the opposition, the Punjab government led by PML-N presented its annual budget of Rs5.45 trillion for the fiscal year 2024-25, though the Rs630 billion surplus budget reveals no plans to tax the agriculture and real estate sectors properly, despite ongoing pressure from the IMF. Currently, income from agriculture is being taxed by the province at …