The caretaker government on Saturday slashed the price of petrol by Rs8 per litre and that of high-speed diesel by Rs11 per litre for the next fortnight.
According to a notification from the Ministry of Finance, the new price of petrol is Rs323.38 and Rs318.18 for HSD.
It said the price revision was due to the variations in the international prices of petroleum products and the improvement in the exchange rate.
Previously, the prices of HSD and petrol were estimated to be reduced by about Rs15-19 per litre for the Oct 1-15 period mainly because of the rupee’s appreciation.
The Pakistani rupee appreciated throughout the outgoing week, seeing an improvement of 1.4 per cent against the USD in the interbank market, and is on track to be the best-performing currency this month.
Last week, Caretaker Commerce and Industries Minister Gohar Ejaz had said he was hopeful that the nation would receive “good news” regarding petrol prices on October 1.
The prices of the two essential fuels were last cut in mid-July when petrol was reduced by Rs9 per litre to Rs253 and diesel by Rs7 per litre to Rs253.50.
Between Aug 15 and Sept 15, petrol and high-speed diesel prices jumped by Rs58.43 and Rs55.83 per litre, respectively.
At present, the GST is zero on all petroleum products, but the government is charging Rs60 per litre petroleum development levy on petrol and Rs50 per litre each on HSD and high-octane blending component and 95 RON (Research Octane Number) petrol. The government is also charging about Rs22-23 per litre customs duty on petrol and HSD.
The city police on Wednesday said they were trying to locate a 16-year-old maid who was allegedly abducted from an apartment near Karachi’s Seaview.
South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the girl was allegedly kidnapped by an unidentified person from the apartment on August 15 and a complaint was subsequently registered by her father.
The month-old incident came to public attention when the victim’s father brought it to the local media’s notice, subsequently drawing significant attention on social media.
Darakhshan police had lodged a first information report (FIR) under Section 365-B (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage etc.) of the Pakistan Penal Code on Aug 17.
The FIR said the daughter had ventured out at 11pm on Aug 15 to buy something but did not return, adding that the family searched for her but could not find anything. The father said he suspected that some “unknown person” had abducted her for “unknown reasons or sexual intercourse”.
DIG Raza said the complainant had informed the police that his daughter worked as a maid at the home of a cousin of a renowned pir (spiritual guide) of Sindh.
The DIG said the initial investigation had revealed that she was using a mobile phone without permission, which greatly angered her employer.
“As a result, the employer contacted her father to bring her back home. Later, the girl allegedly left the residence, and her whereabouts have remained unknown since then,” the officer added.
DIG Raza mentioned that investigators had questioned several individuals and a joint investigation team was constituted by the police for the case.
The DIG said the police were working on the case and some arrests were expected very soon, which may help to solve the case.
Meanwhile, speaking to Time News — a Sindhi TV news channel — the girl’s father expressed concerns, suspecting that his daughter might have been allegedly “killed or sold” by her female employer, Naeema Shah, allegedly a member of a pir family in Pir Jo Goth.
He recounted that he received information about his daughter’s disappearance from the employer’s home in Defence Housing Authority and, upon arriving in Karachi from Khairpur, alleged that he was forcibly confined within the Pir family’s house for two days.
According to the father, neighbours reported hearing the girl’s cries and screams nearly every night. He claimed to have faced threats and warnings of dire consequences when he raised this issue with Naeema Shah’s brother, Pir Lalan Shah.
Ayaz alleged that Lalan cautioned him against pursuing the matter, suggesting that it would render him unwelcome in Pir Jo Goth.
The father appealed to the police to take the case of his missing daughter seriously, expressed his extreme disturbance at the situation and lamented that the police were not giving due attention to the matter.
NEW DELHI: India’s opposition parties on Saturday united behind a Muslim MP and demanded the suspension of a Hindu right deputy who abused him with an Islamophobic slur.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri had called Danish Ali a terrorist during a discussion on India’s successful moon-landing.
Mr Ali is a Lok Sabha MP from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Dalit leader Mayawati.
Hours after Mr Ali said he may consider leaving the Lok Sabha if Speaker Om Birla does not take “appropriate action” against Mr Bidhuri for his communal tirade in parliament, several opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, visited Mr Ali’s house late on Friday.
Video of Bidhuri’s controversial references to Danish Ali has gone viral
Mr Gandhi, accompanied by Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal and MP Imran Pratapgarhi, held a closed-door meeting with Danish Ali for about 40 minutes. While leaving Danish Ali’s house, he told the media, “In a market of hatred, here’s a shop of love.”
Speaking to Newslaundry portal, Mr Ali said: “I have no dispute with Ramesh Bidhuri. He should tell us in which shakha or laboratory has he received such training? Earlier, these things would happen on the streets, but now in Amrit Kaal, in the parliament’s new premises, during the special session, hate speech is being witnessed. What is more shameful is that Bidhuri’s fellow BJP MPs Dr Harsh Vardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad were seen smiling and thumping the desk even as Bidhuri continued using communal slurs. Where will you take this country?”
The mindset of using communal slurs was earlier found in nooks of villages, but it has now reached the parliament, said MP Imran Pratapgarhi. “What could be more shameful than the fact that communal abuses were used inside the parliament of the country.”
Mr Pratapgarhi said if no stringent action is taken, it would be clear that “the government’s intention was to abuse”.
Following the Congress leaders’ visit, Mr Ali retweeted Rahul Gandhi’s post on their meeting, and wrote: “Your sudden visit has boosted my morale! Hate will lose, love will win!!!”
During a discussion on Chandrayaan-3 in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday evening, Mr Bidhuri used communal slurs against Danish Ali.
Following the opposition’s objection to portions of his speech, the Speaker issued a warning to Mr Bidhuri over his remarks, which have now been expunged.
The opposition parties have demanded Mr Bidhuri’s suspension.
Danish Ali also reportedly wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha speaker, seeking appropriate action.
He wrote, “This is most unfortunate and the fact that this happened in the new Parliament and under your leadership as Speaker is truly heart-breaking for me as a minority member of this great nation and an elected member of Parliament.”
BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday said it was “unfortunate” that the BJP has not yet taken “appropriate” action against Mr Bidhuri for his objectionable remarks against her party’s MP.
The BJP has issued a show-cause notice to Mr Bidhuri for his use of objectionable words in parliament.
In a post in Hindi on X, Ms Mayawati said, “Although the speaker has expunged the objectionable remarks made by BJP MP against BSP MP Danish Ali, warned him and a senior minister has apologised in the House, but it is sad/unfortunate that the party has not yet taken appropriate action against him.”
Defence Minister and former BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath Singh, expressed regret for Mr Bidhuri’s remarks.
The video of Mr Bidhuri’s controversial references to the Muslim MP has gone viral with opposition parties demanding strict action against him, including suspension from the House.
Speaker Birla has cautioned him and warned of strict action if such an offence is repeated.
Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2023
• Bureau looking for deputationists from investigating agencies, other government departments to fill gaps in its ranks
• More than 30 officers on deputation in other departments; deputy chairman, prosecutor general’s posts also empty
ISLAMABAD: Amid the reopening of hundreds of accountability cases in the wake of a recent Supreme Court order, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) finds itself short of staff to handle the expected mountain of paperwork as a major chunk of its officers are currently on deputation to other departments, Dawn has learnt.
A source said that more than 30 NAB officers have been sent to other departments, on deputation, over the past eight to ten months.
The bureau was already short of top officials following the resignations of its deputy chairman and prosecutor general days before the Supreme Court issued its verdict.
Faced with a mammoth task, sources say the accountability watchdog has now asked for the services of officers from various other departments and government agencies, ostensibly to fill the gaps left by the departure of the deputationists.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a NAB official told Dawn that the bureau had sought the services of officials from intelligence agencies, such as Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI), as well as personnel from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
The official said that following the departure of the officers, who were assigned to NAB on deputation, there was a need for personnel in the areas of forensic audit and investigation, as well as experts in tax matters.
Insiders say that the Intelligence and Vigilance Cell (IVC) of NAB was previously headed by a serving intelligence officer, but a number of deputationists from other agencies who had been serving at NAB had been returned to their parent departments after the clipping of its powers under legislation enacted by the previous government.
The amendment had inserted a minimum pecuniary jurisdiction of Rs500 million, barring NAB from taking cognisance of offences of corruption and corrupt practices involving an amount less than Rs500 million.
After regaining its lost powers under the final apex court order issued by former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, the bureau seems to be flexing its muscles in a bid to lay hands on bigwigs involved in white-collar crimes.
Dawn reached out to a NAB spokesperson for comment, but did not receive a response.
Experience and exposure
The loss of manpower was the outcome of a policy decision taken by incumbent NAB chairman, retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt.
In a letter sent to Establishment Division Secretary Inamullah Khan in June this year, seen by Dawn, the NAB chief had sought the induction of his officers into other departments.
Recalling that NAB was Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption organisation, assigned the responsibility of eliminating corruption, he had noted: “Due to very limited exposure to other government departments and agencies, NAB, over time, has transformed into a very disconnected organisation. The opportunity of organisational diffusion, as happened in other ministries/departments, through deputation of officers, is either negligible or none for NAB officers”.
“I am, therefore, of the view that the federal government must consider some arrangements, wherein a quota in different federal government entities, is kept that allows well-rounded grooming of NAB employees, especially BS-18 to BS-21, on two-years deputation basis,” he wrote.
The chairman was of the view that the nature of work undertaken by NAB officers was closely related to the mandate of departments and agencies such as FBR, FIA, SBP, SECP, audit and accounts etc, and that deputation to these departments would equip officers with hands-on experience.
The borrowing departments too, he wrote, would benefit from the experience of NAB deputationists.
While this may have seemed like a good idea at the time for the capacity building of the institution, the situation completely changed last week after the Supreme Court struck down the PDM-era legislation and restored NAB powers to take cognisance of cases worth less than Rs500m.
In the light of the apex court’s decision, NAB has again sent around 1,800 references of top politicians and bureaucrats, on which decisions were pending, to the relevant accountability courts.
The top court virtually reopened about 1,800 closed cases; however, cases that have already been settled or disposed of will not be opened by the accountability watchdog.
Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2023
A soldier was martyred during an exchange of fire with terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to the military’s media wing.
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the district’s general area of Mir Ali during which an “intense fire exchange” occurred against terrorists.
“Own troops effectively engaged terrorists’ location. However, during the operation, Sepoy Shakeel Shafqat, age 21 years, resident of District Khanewal, having fought gallantly, embraced martyrdom,” the ISPR said, adding that the area was being sanitised to eliminate any terrorists found in the vicinity.
“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR said.
On Thursday, eight terrorists were killed by security forces during two separate IBOs in the Jani Khel general area of Bannu district and North Waziristan’s general area of Datta Khel.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.
A report released in July by the think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the first half of the current year witnessed a steady and alarming rise in terror and suicide attacks, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday proposed a hike in the power tariff by Rs3.2814 per unit for the months of October till March under quarterly adjustment.
A notice from the authority said the decision, on requests by ex-Wapda distribution companies (XWDiscos) for periodic adjustment in the tariff for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022-23, was sent to the federal government for any intimation or action, after which Nepra would notify it.
The decision said Nepra “allows the positive quarterly adjustments of Rs135,584 million pertaining to the fourth quarter of the FY2022-23, to be recovered from the consumers of XWDiscos in a period of six months i.e. October 2023 to March 2024” with an additional Rs3.2814 per unit to be charged.
It added that the same terms would apply to K-Electric (KE) consumers as per the federal government’s policy guidelines for the authority to determine the same tariff rationalisation for KE consumers as consumers of XWDiscos with the same application period.
The decision further said the quarterly adjustment would not be passed on to certain categories of industrial cosumers in line with a previous Nepra decision.
Nepra directed the distribution companies to “keep in view and strictly comply with the orders of the courts” while bringing the quarterly adjustments to effect.
The PTI criticised the proposed increase in the power tariff.
In July, Nepra had raised the national average tariff by around Rs5 per unit, pushing the base unit power tariff from Rs24.82 to Rs29.78. On August 22, the government had once again sought to raise the power rate by Rs3.55 per unit.
The persistent increase in electricity prices and fuel prices has led to widespread protests and demonstrations across the country against the hikes.
Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday termed the rising wave of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism a “matter of deep concern” for the international community, including the United States.
Addressing the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on the sidelines of UN General Assembly, the premier linked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ideology of Hindu nationalism with Canada’s recent allegations against India pertaining to the killing of a separatist Sikh leader on its soil.
“These ideologues of Hindutva, they are becoming emboldened in a manner that they are now going beyond the region,” PM Kakar said, highlighting that the “unfortunate killing” of the Sikh leader “is a reflection of that ominous tendency”.
“But for obvious economic and strategic reasons, many players in the Western capitals chose to ignore this fact and reality.”
PM Kakar also emphasised Pakistan’s continued desire for peaceful relations with India, underscoring that “our quest requires reciprocal sincerity by the Indian government”, according to state-run Radio Pakistan.
However, he said measures taken by India in 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir had pushed the entire region into a dark alley.
Kakar expressed the concern of both the government and the people of Pakistan regarding the worsening human rights situation in held Kashmir, which includes attempts by the BJP government to alter the demographic landscape of the occupied region.
The prime minister urged the US administration to use its influence with the Indian government, emphasising that the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, was indispensable for liberating South Asia from perpetual instability.
PM Kakar also reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to maintaining robust relations with both the United States and China, while emphasising the country’s steadfast refusal to engage in any camp politics.
The prime minister underscored Pakistan’s firm belief in the imperative connection between peace and stability in its neighbourhood and the advancement of economic prosperity and social development.
He stated, “In this vein, our earnest desire is to foster peaceful relations with all neighboring countries and those beyond the region.”
He also asserted Pakistan’s readiness to collaborate with the United States and all like-minded partners who share the vision of a harmonious and prosperous world, where cooperation prevails over conflicts.
He mentioned that Pakistan had instituted a Special Investment Facilitation Council with the aim of transforming the country into an appealing hub for investment and innovation.
Discussing the terrorism challenge, PM Kakar expressed deep concern over the resurgence of terrorist threats posed by dangerous groups such as the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), emphasising its gravity not only for Pakistan but also for the global community.
He called upon the international community to unite in the face of the emerging threat, highlighting past collaborative efforts aimed at ensuring the safety and security of people. He reiterated that maintaining a stable Afghanistan remained a crucial foreign policy objective for both Pakistan and the United States.
PM Kakar welcomed the direct engagement between the US and the Afghan government and affirmed Pakistan’s commitment to encourage Afghan authorities to fulfill their obligations, including safeguarding women’s rights, promoting girls’ education, and preventing Afghan territory from being used as a base for terrorist activities against other nations.
The wedding ceremony of Pakistan team pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi with Shahid Afridi’s daughter Ansha Afridi took place in Karachi on Tuesday night.
The couple had exchanged their wedding vows in a private nikkah ceremony earlier this year.
Skipper Babar Azam also attended the wedding function and was captured in social media videos embracing the speedster. Other notable sports personalities and athletes also attended the event.
Azam congratulated Shaheen on the occasion in a post on social media platform X.
Earlier in the day, Shaheen shared a picture of himself with the skipper, both seated, and captioned it “family”.
Shaheen and Ansha had tied the knot in a beautiful daytime nikkah in Karachi on February 3.
The reception was held for the couple at the DHA Golf and Country Club after their nikkah and attended by a lot of Shaheen’s teammates from the national cricket team.
Shaheen’s wedding is one in a long line of cricket weddings this year.
Shadab Khan had announced in January that he got married in a nikah ceremony and requested people to respect his family and wife’s privacy while sending prayers and love for all.
Before him, Shan Masood also married Nische Khan in a grand wedding ceremony in Peshawar in January. Haris Rauf got married to Muzna Masood Malik in a daytime nikah ceremony in Islamabad last December.
In a 2-1 verdict, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday ordered the restoration of corruption cases against public office holders that were withdrawn after amendments were made to Pakistan’s accountability laws last year.
The reserved verdict was announced by a three-member bench comprising the outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the accountability laws.
The judgment came after 53 hearings were conducted on the ex-prime minister’s plea.
In the order, CJP Bandial and Justice Ahsan declared the petition to be maintainable while Justice Shah disagreed with the majority verdict, according to which not just the corruption cases but also the inquiries and investigations were directed to be restored.
The detailed court verdict, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said the bench was primarily concerned with the amendments made in 2022, adding they had “indeed brought about a significant change in the legal position under the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance”.
It said Imran had sought the nullification of almost all of the amendments made in 2022. “However, on a careful examination of these, we are not convinced that the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan are violated by each and every section,” the order reads.
It said that judicial scrutiny of only Sections 2, 8, 10, and 14 of the National Accountability (Amendment) Act, 2022 (from here on referred to as First Amendment) and Sections 2, 3, and 14 of the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2022 (from here on referred to as Second Amendment) was required.
Here, Dawn.com will now take a look at how the court verdict impacts the aforementioned sections:
Change implemented:
Section 2 of the First Amendment inserted sub-sections (a)-(f) into Section 4 of the NAB Ordinance and Section 2 of the Second Amendment added sub-section (g) in Section 4 of the NAB Ordinance, thus excluding certain holders of public office from the application of the NAB Ordinance and thereby limiting its effect.
Reasoning: The order said that from comparing the unamended and amended versions of Section 4 of the NAB Ordinance, “it becomes plain that exceptions have been created for the decisions, advice, reports, opinions of and works, functions, projects, schemes undertaken by holders of public office and public/governmental bodies unless there is evidence of the holder of public officer or a person acting on his behalf having received monetary or other material benefit. Such exceptions are novel not only to the NAB Ordinance but also other accountability laws such as the 1947 Act.”
Referring to the rationale provided for the changes, the order said the court appreciated the “efforts of Parliament to address and rectify what has long been regarded unguided discretion of the NAB authorities”.
It added that the two sections were clearly an attempt by Parliament to “rein in the unguided powers of the NAB and to protect the bureaucracy from unnecessary harassment”.
“However, the exceptions granted by Section 2 operate as an enmasse exemption for holders of public office from facing accountability. The freshly inserted condition that the NAB shall provide evidence of monetary or other material benefit received by the holder of public office or a person acting on his behalf to overcome the exceptions listed in Section 2 of the 2022 amendments cannot be satisfied in the references already pending before the accountability courts.
“Therefore, where such condition will not be met by the NAB the result will be (and in fact has been) that references will be returned,” the order reads.
It said the two sections of the First and Second Amendments thus affected fundamental rights — Articles 9, 14, 23 and 24 of the Constitution — and raised problems regarding the accountability of elected public office holders.
The order elaborated that under the two sections, persons in the service of Pakistan may still be investigated and prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 for the offences listed in Section 9a(i-v) of the NAB Ordinance but elected public office holders will not be amenable to the jurisdiction of any other accountability for the offence of corruption and corrupt practices.
Status: Declared void for elected public office holders from the date of commencement of the 2022 amendments, intra vires (valid) for people in the service of Pakistan pertaining to offences in Section 9a(i-v) of the NAB Ordinance and ultra vires (invalid) for people in the service of Pakistan pertaining to offences in Section 9a(vi-xii) of the NAB Ordinance
Change implemented:
Section 8 inserted new ingredients in the offence under Section 9(a)(v) of the NAB Ordinance and added explanations thereto. Section 9(a)(v) criminalises the act of holding assets beyond means.
Section 10 deleted Section 14 of the NAB Ordinance which provides evidentiary presumptions that may be drawn against the accused.
Reasoning: The order said Section 8 “significantly altered” Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance which lays down various categories of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices.
The order said that apart from reducing the circumstances in which the offence of assets beyond means could be made out against the holder of a public office, the First Amendment section had made another material change in Section 9a(v) of the NAB Ordinance through the obligation on NAB to prove that an accused had accumulated substantially disproportionate assets through corrupt and dishonest means.
It added that this element was previously not a part of Section 9a(v). “This is evident from the ingredients of Section 9a(v) which were well-established in the jurisprudence of the court” and required NAB to prove the accused was a holder of public office; the nature and extent of the pecuniary resources of the property found in the accused’s possession; the known sources of income of the accused and the resources or property found in the possession of the accused were objectively disproportionate to their known sources of income.
“Once the NAB had established the above-mentioned four elements, the accused was presumed to be guilty of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices unless he could account for the resources or property so recovered from him.
“The NAB was not required to demonstrate that the accused had obtained the resources or property ‘through corrupt and dishonest means’ because the mere presence of disproportionate assets led to the presumption that the accused had engaged in corrupt and dishonest conduct.
“Such a presumption is provided in Section 14(c) of the NAB Ordinance. The fact of the matter is that the proof of acquisition of assets ‘through corrupt and dishonest means’ itself constitutes a complete offence.
“Therefore, by changing Section 9a(v) the First Amendment has amalgamated two separate offences into one. As a result, the original offence contained in Section 9a(v) has now been rendered redundant. To further ensure the futility of the said offence all of the evidentiary presumptions contained in Section 14 of the NAB Ordinance sustaining the erstwhile offence under Section 9a(v) and the remaining offences in the NAB Ordinance have been omitted by Section 10 of the First Amendment. The presumption relevant to Section 9a(v) of the Ordinance existed in Section 14(c),” the order reads.
It further said that the insertion of the second explanation to Section 9a(v) removed entries in bank statements from the scope of assets whereas banking transactions could only be regarded as assets if there was evidence of the creation of a corresponding asset through specific transactions.
“The source, object and quantum of credits/receipts in the bank accounts can now no longer be shown for proving the creation of assets. Nor can debit transfers from one account to another be used to show accumulation of money for the creation of an asset. It goes without saying that bank records are usually the most pivotal evidence in financial crimes. However, by virtue of Explanation II, limited resort can be made to them,” the order explained.
The court verdict noted that while the changes from Sections 8 and 10 of the First Amendment might appear innocuous in nature, their effect both individually and collectively had “actually rendered the offence of corruption and corrupt practices in the category of assets beyond means pointless”.
It further said that if accused persons could not be held to account for owning or possessing assets beyond their means, the natural corollary would be that public assets and wealth would become irrecoverable which would encourage “further corruption”.
“This will have a direct adverse effect on the peoples’ right to life and to public property because the economic well-being of the state will be prejudiced,” the order said.
Meanwhile, the court order points out that no similar or corresponding changes were made to other accountability laws.
The verdict reiterated that people in the service of Pakistan could be tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 for the offence of corruption and corrupt practices even if they stood excluded from NAB’s jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments made in Section 4 of the NAB Ordinance.
“However, the same cannot be said of elected holders of public office because they only fall within the purview of the NAB Ordinance. The amended Section 9a(v) and the omission of Section 14(c) would treat similarly placed persons differently because while elected holders of public office are relieved from prosecution for the offence under Section 9a(v), persons in the service of Pakistan will still have to go through the rigours of trial under the 1947 Act for the same offence.
“This would offend the equal treatment command of Article 25 of the Constitution. Insofar as the other presumptions contained in Section 14 of the NAB Ordinance for the other categories listed in Section 9(a) ibid are concerned, the same too stand revived as their omission will prevent the recovery of public assets and wealth from the holders of public office thereby defeating the peoples’ fundamental rights of accessing justice and protecting their public property.
Status: Sections 8 and 10 for elected public office holders declared invalid to the extent that the phrase ‘through corrupt and dishonest means’ used in Section 9a(v), along with its Explanation II, struck down from the NAB Ordinance from the date of commencement of the First Amendment for being unworkable.
Section 14 restored in its entirety to the NAB Ordinance for public office holders from the date of commencement of the First Amendment.
Amendments in Section 8 to NAB Ordinance Section 9a(v) upheld in their entirety for people in service of Pakistan since they can be tried for the same offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
Section 10 of the First Amendment struck down from the date of commencement of the First Amendment and Section 14(a), (b) and (d) stand restored to the NAB Ordinance for people in service of Pakistan because such presumptions do not exist in any other accountability law.
Change implemented:
Section 14 deleted Section 21(g) of the NAB Ordinance which permitted foreign evidence to be admissible in legal proceedings under the mutual legal assistance regime.
Reasoning: The order said that it was a “common fact” that many people being tried under the NAB Ordinance had stashed their wealth and assets abroad in tax havens under fiduciary instruments.
It added that after the omission of Section 21(g), the admissibility of foreign public documents would be governed by Article 89(5) of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984.
The verdict pointed out that the process of admitting foreign public documents under the above order was “protracted and cumbersome”.
Explaining the proceedings under the aforementioned order, the verdict said such a process naturally entails time as the foreign evidence needs to pass through red tape and thus defeats the purpose for which Section 21(g) was inserted into the NAB Ordinance.
That purpose was that after state cooperation led to the receipt of relevant foreign evidence, it would be directly admissible in legal proceedings initiated under the NAB Ordinance without fulfilling the “onerous conditions” of Article 89(5) of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984.
“By deleting Section 21(g) from Section 14 of the NAB Ordinance, the First Amendment has made it near impossible for relevant and necessary foreign evidence to be used in the trials of accused persons. It therefore offends the fundamental rights of the people to access justice and protect public property from waste and malfeasance,” the verdict explains.
Status: Section 14 struck down for being illegal and Section 21(g) restored in the NAB Ordinance for both elected holders of public office and persons in the service of Pakistan with effect from the date of commencement of the First Amendment for facilitating the right to access justice and for protecting their public property from squander.
Change implemented:
Section 3 changed the definition of ‘offence’ in Section 5o of the NAB Ordinance by inserting a minimum pecuniary jurisdiction of Rs500 million below which value the NAB cannot take cognisance of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices.
Reasoning: The court verdict noted that as a result of the above change, offences that caused a loss valued at less than Rs500m no longer came within NAB’s ambit.
It said the apparent rationale provided for enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction was so NAB could be limited to “take only action against mega scandals”.
The court order said the government’s counsel relied on prior verdicts, adding that it was clear from the court pronouncements quoted that NAB’s principal focus was to mainly prosecute mega scandals.
“But whilst the judgments of the superior courts indicate that the minimum pecuniary threshold of NAB should be Rs100m (except in limited circumstances where offences less than Rs100m cannot be prosecuted by any other accountability agency), Section 3 of the Second Amendment has increased this minimum threshold to Rs500m.
“No cogent argument was put forward by learned counsel for the respondent federation as to why Parliament has fixed a higher amount of Rs500m for the NAB to entertain complaints and file corresponding references in the accountability courts when the superior courts have termed acts of corruption and corrupt practices causing loss to the tune of Rs100m as mega scandals,” the court verdict notes.
The order said it was accepted that Parliament was empowered to legislate freely within its legislative competence, however, it was also a settled principle of Pakistan’s constitutional dispensation that the three state organs performed distinct functions and one could not encroach into another’s jurisdiction.
“By enacting Section 3 of the Second Amendment we are afraid that Parliament has in fact assumed the powers of the judiciary because by excluding from the ambit of the NAB Ordinance the holders of public office who have allegedly committed the offence of corruption and corrupt practices involving an amount of less than Rs500, Parliament has effectively absolved them from any liability for their acts,” the order said.
It added that this was a function which under the Constitution only the judiciary could perform with the exception of a presidential pardon.
The order said that the government’s counsel had argued that the increase in the pecuniary threshold did not mean public officeholders were absolved and there were other accountability forums as well.
The order said the counsel had referred to the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947; Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860; Income Tax Ordinance, 2001; and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
However, the verdict said a careful examination of the first two showed they were applicable only to public servants and not to elected public officeholders for a number of reasons the order expounded upon.
Thus, it said that in contrast to what the government counsel had said, elected holders of public office were not triable under the 1947 Act or the PPC for the offence of corruption and corrupt practices.
The court order said Section 3 of the Second Amendment had “undone the legislative efforts beginning in 1976 to bring elected holders of public office within the ambit of accountability laws” because elected public office holders were granted retrospective and prospective exemption from accountability laws.
“Once excluded from the jurisdiction of the NAB no other accountability fora can take cognisance of their alleged acts of corruption and corrupt practices as noted above.
“Such blanket immunity offends Articles 9, 14, 23 and 24 of the Constitution because it permits and encourages the squandering of public assets and wealth by elected holders of public office as there is no forum for their accountability.
“This in turn affects the economic well-being of the state and ultimately the quality and dignity of the peoples lives because as more resources are diverted towards illegal activities less resources remain for the provision of essential services to the people such as health facilities, education institutes and basic infrastructure etc,” the court verdict reads.
It added that the immunity granted also negated Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and offended the equal treatment command of Article 25 as differential treatment was being meted out to persons in the service of Pakistan compared to elected holders of public office.
Thus, there would be an “anomalous situation” if Section 3 was allowed to remain on the statute book, the order pointed out.
Status: Termed unconstitutional, declared to be ultra vires the Constitution and of no legal effect for elected public office holders.
Declared intra vires and Rs500m bar to continue for people in service of Pakistan regarding offences contained in Section 9a(i-v) of the NAB Ordinance since they can be tried under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
Declared void and without legal effect from the date of commencement of the Second Amendment for people in service of Pakistan regarding offences noted in Section 9a(vi)-(xii) of the NAB Ordinance, since they cannot be tried under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 or any other accountability law, for discharging the accused without trial which is tantamount to legislative judgment thus Rs500m bar will not apply.
Change implemented:
Section 14 added a second provision to Section 25(b) of the NAB Ordinance whereby an accused who enters into a plea bargain duly approved by the accountability court under Section 25(b) can renege from the same if they have not paid the full amount of the bargain settlement as approved by the accountability court.
Reasoning: The court order noted that this provision appeared to protect the interests of the state by ensuring prompt recovery of looted public money.
However, it said that despite the “benign purposes” behind introducing the provision, its actual effect was that it nullified Section 25(b), which was inserted to facilitate the early recovery of ill-gotten wealth through a settlement where practical, because it placed no restrictions on the accused from revoking the plea bargain entered by them.
“The second proviso gives the accused an uninhibited right to withdraw from a plea bargain without obtaining the approval of the accountability court which in the first place approved the plea bargain,” the verdict pointed out.
It added that the accountability court’s exclusion from the process undermined the judiciary’s independence and violated Article 25 of the Constitution.
It further said that allowing an accused person to renege from their plea bargain would be tantamount to conferring an unlawful benefit on them since they would “escape the consequences stipulated in Section 15(a) of the NAB Ordinance”.
Status: Declared void and of no legal effect, second provision to Section 25(b) struck down from NAB Ordinance from the date of commencement of the Second Amendment for exceeding its purpose by nullifying Section 25(b), for violating the independence of the Judiciary and for enabling accused persons to avoid the consequences of Section 15(a).
Libya was reeling on Wednesday from a massive flood that left nearly 4,000 dead and thousands more missing, wreaking havoc in the eastern city of Derna where bodies wrapped in blankets lined the ravaged streets.
Relief missions gathered pace with Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates among the first nations to rush aid to the war-scarred country after the disaster that also displaced tens of thousands.
The Mediterranean coastal city of Derna was hit by a huge flash flood late on Sunday that witnesses likened to a tsunami after two upstream dams burst when torrential rains brought by Storm Daniel battered the region.
Footage broadcast by state media showed an apocalyptic landscape in the city, with debris littering streets and people lifting sheets off bodies lying on sidewalks to try to identify them.
Satellite images of Derna after the surge of water showed coastal neighbourhoods almost entirely submerged.
The United Nations has pledged $10 million in support for survivors, including at least 30,000 people it said had been left homeless in Derna.
The wall of water ripped away buildings, vehicles and the people inside them. Many were swept out into the sea, with bodies later washing up on beaches littered with debris and car wrecks.
Traumatised survivors have dug through the mud-caked ruins of shattered buildings to recover bodies, scores of which were lying out in the open before being buried in mass graves.
The confirmed death toll reached 3,840 by Wednesday afternoon, said Lieutenant Tarek al-Kharraz, spokesman for the eastern-based government’s interior ministry.
The figure includes 3,190 victims who have already been buried and at least 400 foreigners, mostly from Sudan and Egypt, Kharraz told AFP, adding that 2,400 people were still missing.
Some media reports have quoted officials giving higher tolls.
Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Tuesday “the death toll is huge” and is likely to grow.
He added the organisation had independent sources saying that “the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 persons so far”.
Oil-rich Libya is still recovering from the war and chaos that followed the Nato-backed uprising which toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The country has been left divided between two rival governments — the UN-brokered, internationally recognised administration based in Tripoli, and a separate administration in the disaster-hit east.
Derna is ringed by hills and bisected by a riverbed that is usually dry in summer, but which became a raging torrent that also destroyed several bridges.
Mudslides and flooding also hit nearby areas where aid group the Norwegian Refugee Council said “entire villages have been overwhelmed by the floods”.
“Communities across Libya have endured years of conflict, poverty and displacement. The latest disaster will exacerbate the situation for these people.”
Erik Tollefsen, head of the weapon contamination unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross, warned of risks posed by landmines planted during the war.
“Derna flood waters have shifted unexploded ordnance into areas previously free of weapon contamination. This means more risk for survivors and those providing humanitarian assistance,” Tollefsen said on X, formerly Twitter.
Several nations offered urgent aid and rescue teams to help address what one UN official called “a calamity of epic proportions”.
In neighbouring Egypt — which has repeatedly refused to set up camps in the face of refugee crises — President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered on Wednesday “the establishment of shelter camps” for survivors of the Libyan disaster, according to state media.
Rescue teams from Turkey have arrived in eastern Libya, authorities said, and Algeria, France, Italy, Qatar and Tunisia also pledged to help.
The UAE sent two planes carrying 150 tonnes of aid.
The European Union said assistance from Germany, Romania and Finland was dispatched.
A Kuwaiti flight took off Wednesday with 40 tonnes of supplies, the IFRC said.
Palestinian media reported a rescue mission had left from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and Jordan sent a military plane loaded with food parcels, tents, blankets and mattresses.
Climate experts have linked Libya’s deadly disaster to a combination of the impacts of a heating planet and of the country’s years of political chaos and underinvestment in infrastructure.
Hurricane-strength Mediterranean storms such as Daniel — which earlier hit Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece — are known as “medicanes” which can gain strength as warmer air absorbs more moisture.
Climate-linked extreme weather events tend to be the deadliest in strife-torn and poor countries that lack good infrastructure, early warning systems and strong emergency response services.
As the world heats up, Libya’s disaster “is illustrative of the type of devastating flooding event we may expect increasingly in the future”, said University of Bristol climate science professor Lizzie Kendon.
A landmark case pitting the US government against Google over the dominance of the company’s world-dominating search engine kicked off in a Washington courtroom on Tuesday.
“This case is about the future of the internet and whether Google will ever face meaningful competition in search,” said Justice Department lawyer Kenneth Dintzer as the United States government began making its case against the tech titan.
Over the course of 10 weeks of testimony involving more than 100 witnesses, Google will try to persuade judge Amit P Mehta that the landmark case brought by the Department of Justice is without merit.
Held in a Washington courtroom, the trial is the biggest US antitrust case against a big tech company since the same department took on Microsoft more than two decades ago over the dominance of its Windows operating system.
“Even for Washington DC, I think we have the highest concentration of blue suits in any location here today,” Mehta joked, observing the dozens of lawyers packed into his courtroom.
The Google case centres on the government’s contention that the tech titan unfairly gained its domination of online search by forging exclusivity contracts with device makers, mobile operators and other companies that left rivals no chance to compete.
Dintzer told Judge Mehta that Google pays out $10 billion every year to Apple and others to secure its search engine default status on phones and web browsers, thereby burying upstarts before they have a chance to grow.
Over the past decade, this created what the government calls a “feedback loop” in which Google’s dominance of search grew ever bigger because of its monopolist access to user data that rivals could never match.
That dominance has made Google parent Alphabet one of the world’s richest companies, with search ads generating nearly 60 per cent of the company’s revenue, dwarfing income from other activities such as YouTube or Android phones.
“We will track what Google did to maintain its monopoly … It’s not about what it could have done or should have done, it’s about what they did,” Dintzer told the court.
Google firmly rejected the US case saying that its search engine was successful because of its quality and the huge investments made over the years.
“Google has for decades innovated and improved its search engine, plaintiffs escape this inescapable truth,” Google’s lawyer John Schmidtlein argued before the court.
“This court cannot intervene in the market and say ‘Google you are not allowed to compete.’ That is anathema to US antitrust law,” he said.
Schmidtlein insisted that testimony from executives at Apple and others will demonstrate that Google won the coveted default status on iPhone and the Safari browser “on the merits”.
The biggest alleged victims in the case are rival search engines that have yet to eke out a meaningful market share for search or search ads against Google, like Microsoft’s Bing and DuckDuckGo.
Google remains the world’s go-to search engine, capturing 90pc of the market in the United States and across the globe, much of which comes through mobile usage on iPhones and phones running on Google-owned Android.
Mehta’s ruling is expected many months after the roughly three months of expected hearings.
He could dismiss the government’s arguments or order drastic remedial action such as a breakup of Google’s businesses or a revamp of the way it operates.
Whatever the outcome, the ruling will almost certainly be appealed by either side, potentially dragging the case on for years.
Launched in 1998, Washington’s case against Microsoft ended in a settlement in 2001 after an appeal reversed an order that the company be split up.
The US government launched its case against Google during the Trump administration and the suit carried over in the transition to President Joe Biden.
Biden has also made a point of challenging tech giants and nominated well-known tech critics to key posts, but with little yet to show for it.
In January, Biden’s Department of Justice launched a separate case against Google involving its advertising business and this could go to trial next year.
The company also faces various lawsuits from US states that accuse it of abusing monopolies in ad tech and blocking competition in its Google Play app store.
At least 150 people were killed when freak floods hit eastern Libya, officials said on Monday, after Storm Daniel swept the Mediterranean, its torrential rains earlier lashing Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece.
Images filmed by residents of the Libyan disaster area showed massive mudslides, collapsed buildings and entire neighbourhoods submerged under muddy water.
Speaking on Libyan network Almasar, Oussama Hamad, prime minister of the east-based government, reported “more than 2,000 dead and thousands missing” in the city of Derna alone, but no medical sources or emergency services have confirmed such figures.
While media outlets in eastern Libya have largely picked up on Hamad’s remarks, separate tolls reported from various areas add up to far lower figures.
Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for Hamad’s Benghazi-based administration, said earlier that “at least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel in Derna, Jabal al-Akhdar region and the suburbs of Al-Marj.
“This is besides the massive material damage that struck public and private properties,” he told AFP.
Hundreds of residents were still believed to be trapped in difficult-to-reach areas as rescuers, backed by the army, were trying to come to their aid. East Libyan authorities had “lost contact with nine soldiers during rescue operations”, Massoud said.
He said Hamad and the head of a rescue committee as well as other ministers had travelled to Derna to evaluate the extent of the damage.
Experts have described storm Daniel — which killed at least 27 people when it struck parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days — as “extreme in terms of the amount of water falling in a space of 24 hours”.
Hamad’s government — which in war-battered Libya rivals a UN-brokered, internationally recognised transitional administration in Tripoli — on Monday declared Derna a “disaster area”.
Libya’s western government under Abdelhamid Dbeibah, during an extraordinary ministerial meeting broadcast live on television, announced three days of national mourning and emphasised “the unity of all Libyans” in the face of the disaster.
The National Petroleum Company, whose main oilfields and terminals are in eastern Libya, declared “a state of maximum alert” and suspended flights between production sites where activity was drastically reduced.
A Derna city council official described the situation in the city as “catastrophic” and in need of “national and international intervention”, speaking to the local TV channel Libya al-Ahrar.
He reported the collapse of four main bridges, two buildings and two dams in Derna, a city of 100,000 people that lies in a river wadi 900 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli.
Footage broadcast by media outlets showed a massive flood washing through the city, damaging buildings in its path.
The storm struck eastern Libya on Sunday afternoon, hitting especially the coastal town of Jabal al-Akhdar but also Benghazi, where a curfew was declared and schools closed for several days.
The United Nations mission in Libya on Monday said on X, formerly Twitter, that it was “closely following the emergency caused by severe weather conditions in the eastern region of the country”.
It expressed its condolences over the deaths and said it was “ready to support efforts by local authorities and municipalities to respond to this emergency and provide urgent humanitarian assistance”.
Libya, sitting on Africa’s largest known oil reserves, was plunged into chaos following the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Two rival governments based in the west and east have been vying for power, with deadly conflict occasionally erupting.
The French ambassador to Libya, Mostafa Mihraje, also offered his condolences and expressed his “solidarity with the Libyan people in this ordeal”, also in a message on X.
In neighbouring Egypt, authorities called for caution on the northern coast which borders eastern Libya, and announced they were beginning preparations to minimise the impact of Storm Daniel.
The weather forecast predicted more heavy rain in the coming days. As the world warms, the atmosphere contains more water vapour which increases the risk of heavy precipitation in some parts of the world.
Combined with other factors such as urbanisation and land-use planning, these more intense rainfall events contribute to flooding.
The PTI on Saturday claimed that party leader Usman Dar was kidnapped by “unknown persons” from Karachi’s Malir Cantt area.
PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub alleged on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that Dar was abducted from Malir Cantt “by unknown people at 4:30pm today”.
“He has reportedly been taken to an unknown location,” Ayub added, further saying that the police were claiming Dar was not in their custody.
When contacted by Dawn.com, Malir Senior Superintendent of Police Tariq Illahi Mastoi denied arresting the party leader.
The PTI also strongly condemned what it termed as Dar’s “abduction and enforced disappearance”, demanding his immediate recovery.
The party’s Karachi president accused the caretaker provincial government of being responsible, saying that it “continues the fascist trend set by PPP government.”
PTI’s Farrukh Habib demanded that the allegedly detained leader be brought to light immediately and presented in court if there was a case against him so Dar could exercise his right to defend himself and his family could meet him.
In August, Dar had said his house, factory and businesses in Sialkot were sealed and his family members, including women, were left stranded.
Dar had said the state had sealed his house, factory and all kinds of properties, including Jinnah House and all family businesses. He had said women and children were forced to go out on the road.
“The state is committing highhandedness against him and his family members,” he had said and added that he would pray for justice against those who maltreated his mother.
He had said he would be ready to appear before the courts if they would take up the case and guarantee that he would be allowed a fair trial. Dar had also appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to dispense justice in the matter.
PTI Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 had resulted in widespread violence and saw important military installations come under attack, on the basis of which the state had launched a severe crackdown against his party.
Dar’s house was previously raided in March as well by the Punjab police in a province-wide crackdown on hundreds of PTI workers.
Hundreds of stray dogs that roam the streets of the Indian capital Delhi are being rounded up by authorities and moved to shelters in the run-up to the G20 summit this weekend, according to animal activists and Reuters witnesses.
Authorities have already cleared many slums in the city and put up cutouts of langurs to scare away monkeys from public spaces ahead of the meeting.
The G20 summit, the biggest-ever gathering of world leaders in the Indian capital, will be attended by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida among others.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) did not directly link the removal of stray dogs to the summit, stating that the canines are being picked up “only on an urgent need basis”.
Ambulances being used for the roundup of strays that were seen by Reuters, however, displayed “On Duty G-20” boards.
The national capital territory of Delhi has over 60,000 stray dogs, according to government data, which are fed and doted upon by many of its 20 million residents, but instances of them attacking people are not uncommon.
The MCD, in August, had issued an order for the removal of stray dogs “from the vicinity of prominent locations in view of the G-20 summit”, but withdrew the directions two days later following a backlash.
Animal activists say the civic body then started capturing stray dogs “in an inhumane manner” last week, without using methods like “net catching or hand catching” mandated by guidelines.
Almost 1,000 dogs have been rounded up so far from areas like the airport and the G20 venue, they said.
Reuters’ witnesses saw MCD teams capturing dogs using rods with a loop at one end. The animals were then dragged to ambulances.
“What India is doing is ironic given the theme of the G20 — one earth, one family, one future. It is hypocritical to talk of a shared future when we do not make room for our co-beings,” said Ambika Shukla, trustee of People for Animals, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Sanjay Mohapatra, founder of the House of Stray Animals NGO, termed the action “needless”.
“If delegates see people feeding stray dogs, it will actually create a good impression of the country,” he said.
The MCD, in a statement, said the captured dogs were being tracked and would be released back from where they were taken, but did not give a timeframe.
“All the dogs are safe and comfortable with necessary medical help available to them,” it said.
Friendicoes, one of the groups working with the MCD to round up the canines, said it has picked up 234 dogs using nets and moved them to its three shelters in the city.
Reuters images showed the animals inside cages, with a whiteboard hanging at the entrance detailing the token number assigned to each of them, and detailing their gender and fur colour.
“We have stopped the work now since we have reached full capacity. The dogs will be released at the same locations from where they were picked up after the summit,” said co-founder Geeta Seshamani.
