ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, which reinserted powers granted to law enforcement authorities and the armed forces to detain “suspicious” individuals for up to three months. Section 11EEEE (preventive detention for inquiry) of the ATA was amended in 2014, providing the government and authorised armed forces and civil armed forces …
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order for the appointments of new opposition leaders in the National Assembly and the Senate following the disqualification and removal of PTI’s Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz from their respective roles. On August 5, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified Ayub and Faraz, along with other opposition …
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has lost Rs4.1 billion in just over two months after closing its airspace to Indian-registered aircraft, the Ministry of Defence informed the National Assembly on Friday. The ministry said the shortfall, from April 24 to June 30, was in overflying revenue and was lower than the reported Rs8.5bn. The closure followed India’s unilateral suspension …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) removed on Friday three Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders from key parliamentary posts following the disqualification of several party lawmakers. Omar Ayub was stripped of the position of opposition leader, while Zartaj Gul lost her role as parliamentary leader and Ahmad Chattha was removed as deputy parliamentary leader. A special anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faislabad, earlier …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill 2025 on Thursday to facilitate the movement of goods and people across border crossing points. With the bill’s approval, Pakistan would become the third South Asian country, after Bangladesh and India, to have a land port authority. The Bangladesh Land Port Authority was created in 2002, while India did …
ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif assured the National Assembly on Tuesday that the government was taking measures for Arbaeen pilgrims following an overland travel ban , saying the Balochistan government had been directed to operate direct flights from Quetta to Iran and Iraq. Every year, Shia Muslims from Pakistan travel by land route to Karbala in Iraq via Iran to …
ISLAMABAD: A fresh session of the National Assembly begins today (Monday), a day ahead of PTI’s countrywide protest, amid heightened political temperature due to the convictions of key PTI leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub. The session, summoned by President Asif Ali Zardari, is expected to witness strong protests from PTI lawmakers over the conviction of party members, …
ISLAMABAD: The ECP on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a reference seeking the disqualification of PML-N lawmaker Adil Bazai. A three-member bench of the commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the case. Bazai’s counsel maintained that he had never joined the PML-N and asserted that a fake affidavit had been submitted in his name with the …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday passed six bills, including one seeking an increase in the number of Supreme Court judges and another related to the extension of the terms of armed services chiefs, amid deafening protest by the opposition. A few hours later, the Senate also passed the amendment bills. If President Asif Ali Zardari signs off on them, …
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly, which meets again today (Monday), is expected to pass three important bills in its current session, including two laws related to the Supreme Court and another regarding preventive detention of terror suspects for up to three months. Much-touted amendments to the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act is one of the three bills expected to be …