#pakistan bar council

[coochiequeens]

Ladies, vote for yourself and those denied the right

Dhurnal (Pakistan) (AFP) – Perched on her traditional charpai bed, Naeem Kausir says she would like to vote in Pakistan's upcoming election -- if only the men in her family would let her.

Issued on: 05/02/2024 - 08:41

In  the village of Dhurnal in Punjab, spread across crop fields and home to several thousand people, men profess myriad reasons why women should not be allowed to vote © Farooq NAEEM / AFP

Like all the women in her town, the 60-year-old former headmistress and her seven daughters -- six already university educated -- are forbidden from voting by their male elders.

"Whether by her husband, father, son or brother, a woman is forced. She lacks the autonomy to make decisions independently," said Kausir, covered in a veil in the courtyard of her home.

"These men lack the courage to grant women their rights," the widow told AFP.

Although voting is a constitutional right for all adults in Pakistan, some rural areas in the socially conservative country are still ruled by a patriarchal system of male village elders who wield significant influence in their communities.

In the village of Dhurnal in Punjab, spread across crop fields and home to several thousand people, men profess myriad reasons for the ban of more than 50 years.

"Several years ago, during a period of low literacy rates, a council chairman decreed that if men went out to vote, and women followed suit, who would manage the household and childcare responsibilities?" said Malik Muhammad, a member of the village council.

"This disruption, just for one vote, was deemed unnecessary," he concluded.

Robina Kausir, a healthcare worker, talks to AFP in Dhurnal of Punjab province, ahead of the upcoming general election © Farooq NAEEM / AFP

Muhammad Aslam, a shopkeeper, claims it is to protect women from "local hostilities" about politics, including a distant occasion that few seem to remember in the village when an argument broke out at a polling station.

Others told AFP it was simply down to "tradition".

First Muslim woman leader

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has stressed that it has the authority to declare the process null and void in any constituency where women are barred from participating.

In reality, progress has been slow outside of cities and in areas that operate under tribal norms, with millions of women still missing from the electoral rolls.

Muhammad Aslam, a shopkeeper, claims a ban on women voting is to protect them from "local hostilities" about politics © Farooq NAEEM / AFP

The elders in Dhurnal rely on neighbouring villages to fill a government-imposed quota which maintains that 10 percent of votes cast in every constituency must be by women.

Those who are allowed to vote are often pressured to pick a candidate of a male relative's choice.

In the mountainous region of Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province home to almost 800,000 people, religious clerics last month decreed it un-Islamic for women to take part in electoral campaigns.

Although voting is a constitutional right for all adults in Pakistan, some rural areas in the socially conservative country are still ruled by a patriarchal system of male village elders who wield significant influence in their communities © Farooq NAEEM / AFP

Fatima Tu Zara Butt, a legal expert and a women's rights activist, said women are allowed to vote in Islam, but that religion is often exploited or misunderstood in Pakistan.

"Regardless of their level of education or financial stability, women in Pakistan can only make decisions with the 'support' of the men around them," she said.

Pakistan famously elected the world's first Muslim woman leader in 1988 -- Benazir Bhutto, who introduced policies that boosted education and access to money for women, and fought against religious extremism after military dictator Zia ul-Haq had introduced a new era of Islamisation that rolled back women's rights.

However, more than 30 years later, only 355 women are competing for national assembly seats in Thursday's election, compared to 6,094 men, the election commission has said.

Pakistan reserves 60 of the 342 National Assembly seats for women and 10 for religious minorities in the Muslim-majority country, but political parties rarely allow women to contest outside of this quota.

Those who do stand often do so only with the backing of male relatives who are already established in local politics.

"I have never seen any independent candidates contesting elections on their own," Zara Butt added.

'Everyone's right'

Forty-year-old Robina Kausir, a healthcare worker, said a growing number of women in Dhurnal want to exercise their right to vote but they fear backlash from the community if they do -- particularly the looming threat of divorce, a matter of great shame in Pakistani culture.

She credits part of the shift to access to information as a result of the rising use of smartphones and social media.

"These men instil fear in their women – many threaten their wives," she told AFP.

Robina, backed by her husband, is one of the few prepared to take the risk.

When cricketing legend Imran Khan swept to power in the 2018 election, Robina arranged for a minibus to take women to the local polling station.

Only a handful joined her, but she still marked it as a success and will do the same on Thursday's election.

"I was abused but I do not care, I will keep fighting for everyone's right to vote," Robina said.

[stele3]

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/supreme-court-decisions-06-30-23/index.html

https://apnews.com/article/france-police-shooting-nanterre-nahel-9ec58a1219c943b9dd09c41db405c41b

https://www.africanews.com/2023/06/30/un-security-council-ends-mali-peacekeeping-mission/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brazilian-president-bolsonaro-barred-by-courts-from-elections-until-2030/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/30/why-did-pakistan-need-the-imf-deal-what-does-it-need-to-do-now

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_ep2.shtml?start#contents

https://peoplescdc.org/2023/06/26/peoples-cdc-covid19-weather-report-2/

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/exclusive-ukraine-brings-first-charges-for-deporting-kherson-orphans/ar-AA1dfHH5

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Liam Duffy

Published: Feb 28, 2023

With each new blasphemy controversy in the West, from The Satanic Verses to Charlie Hebdo, the corrosive effect on free expression worsens. In Wakefield, we see just how low the bar for blasphemy allegations has fallen, and how readily complaints are legitimised by our own institutions. As reported, four non-Muslim pupils were suspended from school after the unintentional scuffing of an English copy of the Quran. West Yorkshire Police said they were closely “liaising” with the school and that their enquiries “confirmed minor damage” to the text. In their response, the school and local authorities seem to give credence to an understanding of blasphemy which goes beyond the one advanced even by jihadists.  

After a Batley schoolteacher was forced into hiding and a film, The Lady of Heaven, was pulled from cinemas, this is at least Britain’s third major blasphemy ‘affair’ in as many years. The recent review of Prevent drew attention to the frequency and danger of blasphemy controversies, but there is nothing that any counter-extremism initiative can do to address these persistent clashes in the UK. This is not a question of countering extremism, solvable with workshops on ‘British Values’ or critical thinking, but instead concerns the sovereignty of British law and the fundamentals of British democracy.

Prior to the aforementioned controversies, Glaswegian shopkeeper Asad Shah was brutally stabbed and stomped to death over blasphemy, and it seems almost a certainty to say that more people will be killed unless the British state and civil society can get a handle on these campaigns, and fast. This doesn’t mean workshops and interventions; rather, local councils and police forces must stop prizing “community engagement” to the exclusion of almost all other considerations, while positive community engagement or the cooling of tensions must mean more than caving to the whims of an offended minority. This approach leads to the embrace of barely concealed extremist figures in order to preserve local relations, but at the expense of the overall health of British democracy.

To reverse course requires using the measures which have been used to block Right-wingers and even a rapper from entering the country from abroad whereas, presently, preachers who lionise religious assassin Mumtaz Qadri can freely make fundraising trips from Pakistan to Britain which allow them to whip up blasphemy fervour at home. It means the public sector not rushing to adopt a definition of ‘Islamophobia’ which transparently protects belief as much as it is designed to protect individual human beings. It means mainstream political parties ejecting people who inflame these affairs — as one councillor did in his (now-deleted) description of the Wakefield page scuffing as a “desecration”. It means the police declining to have anything whatsoever to do with damage to a text, religious or otherwise. 

They have failed to do this, and inadvertently lent legitimacy to the complaints of the offended, the outraged, and self-proclaimed community leaders. And a new, serious approach certainly means that counter-terrorism or social cohesion funding should not be going to those who look forward to the restoration of Taliban rule.

This is not about Prevent or counter-extremism; it is the very basics which Britain seems to be getting wrong at almost every turn. All this is nicely summed up by a particularly galling spectacle: a police officer and the fearful mother of an autistic child pleading innocence during what amounts to a modern British blasphemy tribunal.

==

The fact that the kid is autistic is ultimately irrelevant. That it was an accident is neither here nor there.

That said, the fact that this is the reaction that an autistic kid who accidentally drops a book elicits demonstrates how irrational, completely devoid of perspective, and hair-trigger violent this religion is. That this is what happens for a fabricated non-issue in the circumstances given might, hopefully, peak a few people who had previously excused the reactions to Charlie Hebdo, Salman Rushdie, etc.

[mariacallous]

When a male client grabbed 32-year-old Hafsa Ahmad from behind inside a crowded courtroom in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, she knew no colleague would stand up for her despite witnessing the assault. Why would the law firm she works for lose a high fee-paying client just to protect her, she thought to herself. She did not say a word and forgot the incident as if it had never happened.

Ahmad’s experience is not a one-off; 35-year-old Nida Usman Chaudhary, an award-winning lawyer and researcher, was catcalled by a male lawyer right outside the Lahore High Court, just when she was exiting the building after hosting a seminar to raise awareness about sexual harassment at the workplace. “It is ironic that this happened moments after I had finished speaking to a room full of lawyers about ways to curb harassment in the courts,” she told Foreign Policy.

In Pakistan, women lawyers who pursue litigation have to develop a thick skin to survive in the profession. Sexual harassment, condescending attitudes of male colleagues—and even some judges—and an overall culture of misogyny discourages them from practicing law and forces some of them to switch career paths.

Pakistan’s Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act (enacted in 2010) makes it mandatory for government and private institutions to form inquiry committees to hear complaints of harassment, yet this law remains unimplemented in courts and law firms. Harassment, gender discrimination, and lack of internal recourse not only rob women lawyers of opportunities for networking and growth, but also has a lasting effect on Pakistani society.

Given the rampant culture of victim-blaming when it comes to cases of gender-based violence in Pakistan, the absence of a critical mass of women lawyers means victims of these crimes who approach the courts are met with hostility and are often forced to withdraw their complaints after reaching a so-called compromise with the accused.

Complainants who report gender-based violence often face character assassination during cross-examination, with opposing parties trying to question their credibility and blaming them for their own ordeal. It is easier to navigate this misogynistic environment with a woman lawyer on your side. However, without this support, female complainants are usually intimidated into silence. The gender imbalance in the legal profession therefore affects the criminal justice system’s ability to dispense justice.

Earlier this year, the Lahore High Court Bar Association elected its first woman secretary, Sabahat Rizvi, in a victory that women rights groups celebrated as historic. While Rizvi’s win was indeed a breath of fresh air, it is an exception to the norm. The Pakistan Bar Council, the highest elected body of lawyers in the country, hasn’t had a single female member since its formation by the Parliament in 1973. The absence of women in this body, according to Chaudhary, is linked to the way the electoral process works—which is structurally designed to keep men in power.

Members of the Pakistan Bar Council are elected directly by provincial bar councils. Since provincial bar councils have a disturbingly low number of women members to begin with, it’s mostly men picking the Pakistan Bar Council. A study conducted by the Women in Law Initiative found that in recent years, following a 2018 amendment to the law, the eligibility requirements to run in local bar council elections have become increasingly stringent and have resulted in the “gatekeeping” of corridors of power from women and young lawyers.

Only 12 percent of the lawyers in Pakistan who are registered as advocates are women, while in Punjab—the country’s biggest province by population—the percentage of women lawyers is 11 percent. The Punjab Bar Council has just one female member, Rushda Lodhi, who was a runner-up in the council’s last election in 2020. Lodhi was given the seat after a top-ranking male official was disqualified for having a fake law degree.

The late Asma Jilani Jahangir—Pakistan’s most well-known human rights defender and lawyer—managed to make her mark not just in Pakistan but around the world. Jahangir, who tirelessly defended Pakistan’s most marginalized groups, was the recipient of many human rights awards, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. With her sudden passing in 2016, young women lawyers she had mentored felt they had been orphaned. Jahangir’s younger sister, Hina Jilani, also a lawyer, is now carrying forward her legacy.

But what is common among the Jilani sisters, as well as other strong women lawyers like them, is the support from their families alongside their own perseverance. Most women in Pakistan, especially in conservative parts of the country such as in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are not as fortunate.

The 2022 Global Gender Gap Index Report, released by the World Economic Forum, ranked Pakistan 145 out of 156 countries surveyed—beneath Saudi Arabia and Iran— when it came to economic participation and opportunity. The United Nations Women Pakistan notes that women “restricted from taking up positions in the political/public sphere due to systemic challenges arising from patriarchal notions.”

In Pakistan’s patriarchal society, most women have to seek their fathers’ or brothers’ permission to work. Even when conservative families allow their daughters to work, they are asked to stick to so-called gender-suited professions, such as teaching. Since being a lawyer means interacting with men from different walks of life and regularly visiting courts and police stations, women who want to pursue litigation face opposition from their families.

Even if they manage to begin their practice without their family’s support, they have no one to turn to if they face harassment or discrimination in the workplace. Often their only two options are to either quit, or continue struggling silently in a thankless profession where the odds are heavily stacked against them. Most women choose the former.

Maryam Khan, 40, a Lahore-based lawyer who began practicing in 2016, told Foreign Policy she has to “overprepare” her arguments because she knows judges would grill her more than her male colleagues. She remembers representing a leading oil company in a high court where the judge kept asking her if she was the lead counsel in the case. “My name was on the case file. He knew I was the counsel, but he probably did not want to believe that a woman can handle an important case like that,” Khan said.

Several other women lawyers FP spoke to admitted that they experienced a similar condescending tone and line of questioning from judges, who often assume that female lawyers appearing before them are either secretaries of a senior lawyer or clerical aides.

Another form of misogyny that women lawyers face is the assumption that when they win a case, it is because the judge unduly favored them due to their gender, and not because their arguments were convincing. Moreover, women who are well-dressed are not taken seriously and accused of playing the so-called woman card to get a favorable ruling. Young women lawyers also patronizingly get addressed as beta (child) by male counterparts who want to underscore their seniority.

Barrister Fatima Shaheen, 36, now a TV anchor, pursued litigation for six years in Lahore before she realized she could no longer put up with the misogynistic behavior. She recalls an opposing lawyer once jokingly telling her, “If you dress like this, the judge will keep staring at you instead of issuing the order.” These hostilities and an unwelcoming environment force most women to quit practicing, which is why bar lounges, associations, and councils across the country remain a boys’ club.

The rise of religious extremism in Pakistan has had a parallel effect on the legal fraternity and tanked the progress toward fair representation of women lawyers in the field. Since its rise to prominence in 2017, the Sunni extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has been able to galvanize significant support among the working and middle classes in the country, and especially in the Punjab province. With the TLP’s rise, lawyers with extremist inclinations became more vocal.

In 2016, a 700-member lawyer alliance was formed to voluntarily prosecute individuals accused of blasphemy. The Khatm-e-Nabuwwat (Finality of Prophethood) Lawyers Forum was created in the lead-up to the TLP’s formation, when extremist clerics were holding protests against the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of former Punjab Gov. Salmaan Taseer. (Qadri killed the governor in 2011 due to his support to a blasphemy-accused Christian woman.)

Aside from the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum, there are other smaller groups of lawyers who describe themselves as the “guardian of the Prophet Muhammad’s honor” and share the TLP’s ideology.

In June last year, the Lahore Bar Association invited TLP chief Saad Rizvi, who has been arrested a number of times for violent protests by his group, to address a session about Islamophobia. Last month, two of the most prominent bar associations of the country wrote separate letters echoing TLP’s demands, and advised the police to not let Pakistan’s Ahmadi community, an already persecuted religious minority, observe the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.

The increased influence of extremist factions, and the absence of proper protection mechanisms for judges and witnesses, mean that lawyers and judges have to tread carefully—further shrinking the space for women lawyers to form networks and effect change in the legal profession.

Article 25 of Pakistan’s Constitution says that there should be no discrimination on the basis of sex, yet the profession that is supposed to be the custodian of this law fails to curb gender-based discrimination within its own ranks. That there are no steps by representative bodies such as the Pakistan Bar Council to address this severe gender imbalance means that the problem is yet to be acknowledged, let alone resolved.

The situation is not too different in other parts of South Asia. According to recent data released by India’s Ministry of Law and Justice, only 15.3 percent of the country’s lawyers are women. In Bangladesh, the figure is 10 percent. Across the subcontinent, the patriarchal mindset that considers certain professions “unsuitable” for women ends up hindering their access to opportunities.

Women have been at the forefront of the struggle against military dictatorships and the restoration of democracy in Pakistan—and without their active participation in the public and private spheres, the country’s democracy will remain weak.

[starbiopic]

ICC Blocks Champions Trophy Tour in PoK After BCCI's Objection

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has barred the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from conducting the 2025 Champions Trophy trophy tour in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This decision came after a strong objection from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), led by Secretary Jay Shah. Pakistan’s Original Plan Sparks Controversy The PCB had announced plans to showcase the Champions…

[smqazi]

A WAKE UP CALL TO ALL THOSE CONCERNED 

ABOUT THE FUTURE EXISTENCE OF 

SO-CALLED ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, 

WHICH BY DEFINITION IS NEITHER ISLAMIC NOR REPUBLIC, 

UNFORTUNATLY!

If I were Chief of Army Staff, having seen the fate of previous “DICTATORS”,      I would act on the request of the Supreme Court if called upon to do so and take following actions rather than imposing another martial law:-

Immediately arrest and put behind the bars all 8500 persons required by the NAB.

Ensure that they are not released by any one unless tried by the courts of law.

I would meanwhile let His Excellency Prime Minister Imran Khan to continue as such.

I also Advise His Excellencies to take necessary steps to identify and bring all those dignitaries / elites found involved in corruption / fake degrees and bring them to justice and get their cases decided on priority basis so that all those convicted are debarred from participating in future elections and holding of any public office.

Request the Chief Justice  of the Supreme Court along with the Islamic Nazriati Council to point out flaws in our constitution, especially those articles which are conflicting with the Islamic teachings, such as immunity of the President, education level of parliamentarians, as Islam lays down a lot of emphasis on education. The first Ayah of the Holy Qur’an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SalAllahu ‘alaihi wa Sallam) was Iqra’ bism-i Rabb-i-kalla-dheee khalaq….. along with Ahadiths on the subject.

Uneducated assembly carries out legislature and creates problems for the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the interpretation and implementation of the laws, etc., etc.

If need be, we can have two assemblies, an educated one for the legislature and the other for general administration in their respective constituencies.

Having done all of these in a period of six (6) months or so, I advise PM to nominate a caretaker government for an interim period of three (3) to six (6) months and hold General Elections in which only those persons are allowed to participate who are having clean record and are good administrators.

We are desperately in need of...: -       

Electoral reforms

Political reforms

Judicial reforms

Police reforms

Review of constitution so as to make them more accountable rather than granting immunity.

Rule of Law

To make the system more democratic, we should have a strong National Security Council.

Others,

National development council

National finance council

Legislature reforms to be done by higher house only and approved by National Security Council.

MNAs and MPAs and all elected representatives should have no powers to formulate rules for themselves, rather they should be working under the rules made by sensible and capable independent body, otherwise they will continue carrying out legislature to benefit themselves or their parties.

And lastly yet importantly, in so-called Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which by definition is neither Islamic nor Republic, unfortunately, the Constitution's fundamental rights have not played a pivotal role in promoting social justice and inclusivity. These rights ensure that the principles of equality, freedom, non-discrimination, and social justice are upheld. They should enable citizens to challenge unfair practices and laws and seek redress for any violation of their rights.

REFERENCES:

https://www.undp.org/pakistan/news/pakistans-pathway-towards-universal-rights-freedom-equality-and-justicePakistan: A Brief on Equal Rights in Constitutions, Equal …

[elakiyaweekly]

Judges rule Walkers’ mini poppadoms are crisps, despite name

Following a new judgment, Walkers, the maker of crisps, winds up committed to pay Tank on its small poppadoms, with the decision featuring their association with crisps instead of conventional poppadoms.

The maker had contended that Sensations Poppadoms ought to be excluded from deals charge, as they are not crisps, which are exposed to a 20% Tank, including nibble food sources like chocolate-shrouded rolls, and oat bars, The Watchman revealed.

In the perplexing scene of expense guidelines, items on this rundown can bring about significant bills for merchants. Customary poppadoms, thought about eatery food or requiring further arrangement, are zero-evaluated.

Prior conversations on Tank have snared McVitie's Jaffa Cakes, with charge experts during the 1990s endeavoring ineffectively to order them as rolls. The instance of Pringles brought about a triumph for HM Income and Customs when not entirely set in stone to fall under the fresh class.

Essentially, hotcakes went through investigation, inferring that their chewy nature prohibited them from the cake assignment, making them subject to Tank.

In 2008, Imprints and Spencer won a 12-year fight recovering £3.5m in overpaid Tank on chocolate teacakes, with the European court administering them as cakes, not rolls.

Walkers contended that its little poppadoms ought not be named as crisps since they were not potato-based and required planning before utilization, intended for dunking in sauces or going with a curry.

Regardless of Walkers' conflicts, an expense court declared that these "little, by and large round, scaled down objects," showing a wavy surface with little air pockets, were basically crisps.

It was seen that as a huge 40% of the fixings are "potato-determined," including potato granules and potato starch, enough to bring them under the duty rule for crisps.

The decision said that the significant potato content considered it sensible to presume that the items lined up with the duty decide indicating that a fresh should be "produced using the potato … or from potato starch."

The council judges, Anne Fairpo and Sonia Peak, dismissed the thought of nominative determinism in nibble food varieties and excused the contention that Sensations Poppadoms filled an unmistakable need from their bigger partners.

The adjudicators said, "practically speaking, we didn't consider that they were essentially unique to potato crisps with respect to their capacity to convey plunges and so forth.

"They are bundled and sold in a way like potato crisps. Eliminating them from their bundling, we consider that their appearance and surface is like potato crisps." It said that the flavors - Lime and Coriander Chutney and Mango and Red Bean stew Chutney - were "not a distinctive element."

Walkers holds the option to pursue the council's choice.

[cricketfun]

He has shown courage - Australia PM Anthony Albanese praises Usman Khawaja for his stance on Middle-East Australia will face Pak... #usa #uk

[marketingstrategy1]

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) Announces LAW-GAT Test To Enroll With Bar Council As An Advocate

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has announced Law Graduate Assessment Test (LAW-GAT) for eligibility to seek enrollment as an advocate with Bar Council ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 19th Jan, 2023 ):The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has announced Law Graduate Assessment Test (LAW-GAT) for eligibility to seek enrollment as an advocate with Bar Council. According to…

[gamegill]

Final List Of Candidates For SHCBA Election Announced

The Sindh Bar Council has announced the final list of the candidates contesting for the office bearers and Members Managing Committee (MMC) of the Sindh High Court Bar Association HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 17th Jan, 2023 ) :The Sindh Bar Council has announced the final list of the candidates contesting for the office bearers and Members Managing Committee (MMC) of the Sindh…

[ammarthemystic]

Today, the enrollment committee of Punjab Bar Council headed by Hon'ble Justice Mr. Shahid Karim conducted my interview for the grant of approval u/s 27(c) of the Legal Practitioner & Bar Council Act 1973 for enrollment as Advocate of High Court and approved my application. It took quite some time due to my absence from Pakistan, but finally, I am Advocate of High Courts of Pakistan. (at Lahore High Court) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnWg4KWoBRa/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[risingpakistan]

جناب صدر کیا واقعی میرے خلاف ریفرنس دائر ہوا ہے؟ جسٹس فائز کا خط

پاکستان کی سپریم کورٹ کے سینیئر جج جسٹس قاضی فائزعی��ٰی نے صدر مملکت عارف علوی کو خط لکھ کر اپنے خلاف ریفرنس دائر کرنے کی خبروں کی تصدیق یا تردید کرنے کا کہا ہے۔ اردو نیوز کے نامہ نگار اے وحید مراد کے مطابق خط میں مستقبل کے چیف جسٹس نے صدر مملکت کو لکھا ہے کہ حکومتی ذرائع کہہ رہے ہیں کہ ان کے خلاف آئین کے آرٹیکل 209 کے تحت ریفرنس دائر کیا گیا ہے۔ اپنے خط میں جسٹس عیسٰی نے استفسار کیا ہے کہ ’براہ کرم مجھے بتایا جائے کہ یہ درست ہے یا نہیں اور اگر ایسا ہے تو انہیں ریفرنس کی کاپی مہیا کی جائے۔‘

انہوں نے لکھا ہے کہ ’مجھے یقین ہے کہ آپ اس بات پر مجھ سے اتفاق کریں گے کہ اگر میرے خلاف ریفرنس فائل کیا گیا ہے اور مجھ سے جواب مانگا گیا ہے تو اس کے بعد سپریم جوڈیشل کونسل کی اجازت سے ہی حکومت ریفرنس کی تفصیلات اور میرا جواب ظاہر کر سکتی ہے۔‘ جسٹس عیسٰی کا کہنا ہے کہ مبینہ ریفرنس کے حوالے سے اس طرح لیک ان کی کردار کشی کے مترادف ہے جس کی وجہ سے ان کے فیئر ٹرائل اور قانونی عمل (ڈیو پراسس) کے حق کو نقصان پہنچ رہا ہے۔ اور اس کی وجہ سے عدلیہ کے ادارے کی بھی بے توقیری ہو رہی ہے۔‘ جسٹس عیسٰی نے خط کی کاپی رجسٹرار سپریم کورٹ اور وزیراعظم کو بھی ارسال کر دی ہے۔

سپریم کورٹ بار ایسوسی ایشن کا ردعمل اس حوالے سے ’اردو نیوز‘ سے بات کرتے ہوئے سپریم کورٹ بار ایسوسی ایشن کے صدر امان اللہ کنرانی نے کہا کہ جسٹس فائز عیسیٰ کو صدر کو خط نہیں لکھنا چاہیے تھا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ میرے خیال میں جذبات میں آ کر خط نہیں لکھنا چاہیے تھا کیوں کہ جسٹس فائز عیسیٰ کی دیانتداری شک و شبے سے بالاتر ہے۔ سپریم کورٹ بار ایسوسی ایشن کے صدر کے مطابق جسٹس فائز عیسیٰ کی دیانت شک و شبے سے بالاتر ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ جسٹس فائز عیسٰی کا خاندان قیام پاکستان سے ہی ایک متمول خاندان سمجھا جاتا ہے اوران کی بلوچستان کے مختلف علاقوں میں جائیدادیں ہیں۔ کنرانی کا کہنا تھا کہ جسٹس عیسٰی خود بھی کارپوریٹ وکیل رہے ہیں اور اگر ان کے خاندان نے کہیں کوئی جائیداد خریدی بھی ہے تو ان کے پاس اس کے جائز وسائل موجود ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ قابلیت اوردیانت کے حوالے سے جسٹس عیسٰی کی شہرت بے داغ ہے۔

حکومتی موقف دوسری جانب ’اردو نیوز‘ کے رابطہ کرنے پر وزیراعظم کی معاون خصوصی برائے اطلاعات فردوس عاشق اعوان نے ججوں کے خلاف ریفرنس دائر کرنے کی خبروں کی تردید سے گریز کیا۔ تاہم انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومت اس حوالے سے دو دن بعد موقف دے گی۔ اردو نیوز کے رابطہ کرنے پر صدر پاکستان عارف علوی کے ترجمان میاں جہانگیر نے ججوں کے خلاف ریفرنس سے لاعلمی ظاہر کی۔

ایڈیشنل اٹارنی جنرل کا استعفٰی اس سے قبل ایڈیشنل اٹارنی جنرل آف پاکستان زاہد ایف ابراہیم نے اعلیٰ عدلیہ کے ججوں کے خلاف صدر پاکستان کی جانب سے مبینہ طور پر ریفرنس دائر کیے جانے کے بعد استعفٰی دے دیا تھا۔ زاہد ابراہیم نے اپنے استعفے میں ان ججز کے نام تو نہیں بتائے تاہم اُنھوں نے اس میں سندھ ہائی کورٹ اور سپریم کورٹ کے ججز کا ذکر کیا ہے۔ ’اردو نیوز‘ سے بات کرتے ہوئے زاہد ابراہیم نے تصدیق کی تھی کہ انہوں نے اپنے عہدے سے استعفی دے دیا ہے۔ انہوں نے بتایا کہ ججوں کے خلاف ریفرنس کی تصدیق انہوں نے حکومت کی اعلٰی ترین شخصیات سے کر لی جس کے بعد استعفے کا فیصلہ کیا۔ زاہد ابراہیم کے استعفے میں سپریم کورٹ کے معزز جج کا ذکر ہے اور کہا گیا کہ ان کی ساکھ بے داغ ہے اور ان کے خلاف حکومت نے نظرثانی اپیل ایس ایم سی نمبر سات 2017 میں اپنی رائے خود ہی ظاہر کر دی ہے۔

استعفے میں جس نظر ثانی اپیل کا زکر ہے وہ تحریک لبیک کے فیض آباد دھرنے سے متعلق از خود نوٹس کے فیصلے سے متعلق تھی۔ یہ فیصلہ جسٹس قاضی فائز عیسیٰ نے تحریر کیا تھا۔ فیصلے میں جسٹس عیسی نے وزارت دفاع اور پاکستان کی مسلح افواج کے سربراہوں سے کہا تھا کہ وہ اپنے ان ماتحتوں کے خلاف سخت کارروائی کریں جنھوں نے اپنے حلف کی خلاف ورزی کرتے ہوئے سیاسی معاملات میں مداخلت کی ہے۔ اس فیصلے کے خلاف پاکستان تحریک انصاف کی طرف سے جو نظرثانی کی پہلی اپیل دائر کی گئی تھی اس میں جسٹس قاضی فائز عیسٰی کے رویے کو تنقید کا نشانہ بنایا گیا تھا۔ تاہم بعد میں دوبارہ نظرثانی کی اپیل دائر ہوئی جس میں سپریم کورٹ کے جج کے خلاف لکھے گئے الفاظ حذف کر دیے گئے تھے۔

وسیم عباسی

 بشکریہ اردو نیوز، اسلام آباد

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حیات بلوچ قتل کیس میں والد نے شناختی پریڈ میں ‘قاتل’ کو پہچان لیا کوئٹہ/اسلام آباد: فرنٹیئر کور (ایف سی) کے ایک سپاہی کے ہاتھوں مبینہ طور پر قتل ہونے والے کراچی یونیورسٹی کے طالب علم حیات بلوچ کے والد نے تربت ڈسٹرکٹ جیل میں شناختی پریڈ کے دوران ملزم کی نشاندہی کردی۔

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[ad_1] Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], August 31 (ANI): The Bar Council of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa condemned the hike in prices of all the essential commodities and staged a province-wide strike of lawyers on Thursday, reported Dawn.Earlier on Wednesday, the Pakhtunkhwa's Bar Council issued a joint statement where vice chairman of the council Zarbadshah Khan and its executive committee chairman Syed Mubashir Shah demanded that the government forthwith abolish the free provision of electricity, natural gas petrol and free air tickets provided to bureaucrats, judges, army officers, etc.They stated that continuous price hikes especially of essential commodities had badly affected the general public and made their lives miserable. They stated that the legal fraternity would observe a complete boycott of all the courts on Thursday.They directed all the district and tehsil bar associations to hold protest meetings in their respective barrooms. They also announced that the bar council would provide free legal assistance to people in cases in the consumer's courts, according to Dawn.The cash-strapped nation's economic situation is getting worse day by day. On Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan reported that the dollar appreciated by Pakistani Rupee (PKR) 1.40 to reach PKR 304.45 in the inter-bank.The devaluation of the Pakistani rupee has caused inflation and also compelled the central bank to raise the interest rates, Dawn reported.The Central bank is raising the interest rates to mitigate the repercussions of uncontrolled depreciation of the local currency."The market is not in control of anyone. The steep devaluation will continue and even cross the limit given by the International Monetary Fund," a senior banker said, adding that nobody knows what is next for the exchange rate, reported Dawn.Under the Standby Arrangement (SBA), the IMF will provide USD 3 billion in three installments over nine months and is willing to witness a 20 per cent devaluation of PKR against the US dollar in Fiscal Year 24.However, in less than two months of the current fiscal year, the PKR has devalued by 10.5 per cent or Rs 29 per dollar. On July 4, when the IMF approved the SBA, the dollar in the inter-bank market was traded at Rs 275.44, which reached Rs 304.45 on Wednesday."This fast deprecation of local currency is alarming for the government in charge. There must be some pause in the frequent free fall of the rupee," said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer in the inter-bank market. (ANI) [ad_2]

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Legal Fraternity Denounces Killing Of Senior Lawyer In KP

Muhammad Irfan Published January 17, 2023 | 12:20 AM HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 17th Jan, 2023 ) :The Sindh Bar Council, Sindh High Court Bar Association and Hyderabad District Bar Association have condemned the brutal killing of senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The council announced a boycott of the legal proceedings on Monday. Advocates KB Laghari,…

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Legal Fraternity Denounces Killing Of Senior Lawyer In KP

Muhammad Irfan Published January 17, 2023 | 12:20 AM HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 17th Jan, 2023 ) :The Sindh Bar Council, Sindh High Court Bar Association and Hyderabad District Bar Association have condemned the brutal killing of senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The council announced a boycott of the legal proceedings on Monday. Advocates KB Laghari,…