Page 15 - Pakistan Link - October 19, 2018
P. 15
PAKISTAN OCTOBER 19, 2018 – PAKISTAN LINK – P15
Justice Shaukat Siddiqui Removed as 30-Member Parliamentary Panel
Islamabad High Court Judge to Probe July 25 Poll Rigging
Islamabad: President Arif Alvi has
removed Justice Shaukat Aziz Sid-
diqui as a judge of the Islamabad
High Court (IHC), a notifi cation
issued by the law ministry said on
Th ursday.
Th e president took the decision af-
ter the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)
recommended his removal, the state-
ment added.
A letter written by the SJC had
emerged earlier in the day, in which the
council, comprising fi ve Supreme Court
judges, had said it found Justice Siddiqui
guilty of misconduct over a speech he
delivered in July earlier this year before
the Rawalpindi District Bar Association.
“Th e council is unanimously of the
opinion that in the matter of making his
speech before the District Bar Associa-
tion, Rawalpindi on [July 21] Mr Justice
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui [...] had displayed Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui addresses the Rawalpindi District Bar Association
conduct unbecoming of a judge of a — DawnNewsTV fi le photo Islamabad: National Assembly Chaudhry, Tariq Bashir Cheema,
high court and was, thus, guilty of mis- Speaker Asad Qaiser has formed a Azam Swati, Malik Amir Dogar,
conduct and he is, therefore, liable to be of alleged refurbishment of [my] offi cial facie had the tendency of undermining 30-member parliamentary commit- Khalid Hussain Magsi, Akhtar
removed from his offi ce under Article residence about three years ago despite the respect otherwise due to such con- tee to probe alleged rigging in the Mengal, Ameenul Haq, Ghous Bux
209(6) of the Constitution,” the commu- full eff ort, my address to a bar associa- stitutional institutions. July 25 general elections. Mehar, Barrister Saif, Sarfraz Bugti,
nication read. tion, every word of which was based on Th e council did not consider an- Th e committee comprises 10 Noman Wazir Khattak and Hi-
Th e SJC is a constitutional forum truth, was used as the justifi cation [to other request of Justice Siddiqui to hold senators and 20 members of the dayatullah.
that examines the conduct of superior dismiss me],” he said. the proceedings of this reference in the National Assembly, according to a Th e opposition members in-
court judges and then recommends “Th is reference was not heard in open court. notifi cation issued by the National cluded Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanvir
their removal from the top post. open court despite my demand and Th e judge had been alrea¬dy fac- Assembly Secretariat on Sunday. Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Ja-
While addressing an audience at clear verdict of the Supreme Court, and ing a reference on misconduct earlier Th e “Parliamentary Commit- ved Abbasi, Rana Sanaullah, Raja
the Rawalpindi bar, Justice Siddiqui had neither was a commission formed to ex- moved on the complaint by some retired tee on the General Elections 2018” Pervez Ashraf, Khursheed Shah,
claimed that personnel of the Inter-Ser- amine the facts described in my speech. employees of the Capital Development has equal representation of treasury Naveed Qamar, Ameer Haider Hoti,
vices Intelligence (ISI) were manipulat- “I am completely satisfi ed with the Authori¬ty (CDA) for alleged refurbish- and opposition benches. Th e NA Maulana Abdul Wasay, Javed Ali
ing judicial proceedings. requisites of my conscience, my nation ment of his offi cial residence beyond en- speaker formulated the panel aft er Abbasi, Asad Khan Junejo, Usman
He had further claimed that the and my rank,” he wrote. titlement. consultations with Senate Chair- Khan Kakar, Rehman Malik and
spy agency had approached IHC Chief Justice Siddiqui said he will pres- Likewise, a similar showcause no- man Sadiq Sanjrani and leaders of Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.
Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi ent his detailed stance before the public tice was issued to Justice Siddiqui under the house and opposition leaders of Last month, Prime Minister
and said: “’We do not want to let Nawaz “very soon”. Article 209 (5)(6) of the Constitution by Senate and National Assembly, ac- Imran Khan had named Defense
Sharif and his daughter come out [of the “[I] will also reveal the facts which the SJC on a reference moved by Advo- cording to the notifi cation. Minister Pervez Khattak as head of
prison] until elections, do not include I had presented before the Supreme Ju- cate Kulsum Khaliq on behalf of former Th e panel has been tasked to the bipartisan parliamentary com-
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on the bench dicial Council in my written statement member of the National Asse¬mbly prepare TORs before taking action mittee. However, following protests
[hearing Sharifs’ appeals]’.” and state the actual reasons behind the Jamsh¬ed Ahmed Dasti alleging that the with regards to rigging allegations from opposition benches, the mat-
Justice Siddiqui had off ered no evi- dismissal of a high court judge in this high court judge had, during one of the on the election day. Th e committee ter was postponed.
dence to support the claims he made. manner aft er nearly half a century.” hearings on a case relating to the 20-day will also decide the timeframe to Th e committee is likely to elect
Th e IHC judge was facing a refer- References against Justice Sid- Faizabad sit-in, objected to a compro- complete the investigation and pres- its head in its fi rst meeting, where
ence over his controversial speech, the diqui: On July 31, the SJC had issued a mise between the federal government ent its report to both houses of the opposition is likely to push for the
third reference fi led against him. show-cause notice to Justice Siddiqui and the protesting Tehreek-i-Labbaik parliament. chairmanship of the panel.
Decision ‘not unexpected’: In a on the reference for making unneces- Ya Rasool Allah. Th e compromise was On September 18, the govern- Soon aft er the general election,
statement issued in response to the SJC’s sary and unwarranted comments at the facilitated by the armed forces. ment and the opposition had agreed the PML-N and the PPP leaders ex-
recommendation of his removal, Justice Rawalpindi District Bar Association by Aft er scrutinizing the reference, a to form a committee to probe the pressed reservations over the con-
Siddiqui said the decision was “not un- accusing the establishment of manipu- meeting of the SJC held on Feb 6 had rigging allegations, a day aft er PPP duct of elections.
expected” for him. lating the judicial proceedings. observed that the judge was guilty of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari PML-N president Shehbaz
“When nothing came out of a Th e SJC took up the matter aft er misconduct and should be issued a warned of launching a series of pro- Sharif criticised the delay in the
baseless reference started in the name considering that such comments prima show-cause notice in this regard. tests. Later, Senator Raza Rabbani transmission of results and alleged
that his party’s representatives had
Zainab’s Rapist, Murderer called for inclusion of senators in been barred from entering polling
stations during the vote count. PPP
the committee. Th e government ac-
Imran Ali Hanged at Kot Lakhpat Jail ceded to this demand. Chairman Bilawal and several other
party leaders also complained of
Th e government will be repre-
sented by Pervez Khattak, Shafqat non-provision of ‘Form 45’, among
Lahore: Imran Ali, who was con- execution, tests across the country following Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Fawad other irregularities.
victed for the rape and murder of Ansari re- the recovery of the child’s body from Stocks Bounce Back as KSE-100
six-year-old Zainab Amin in Kasur gretted that a trash heap a week aft er she went
earlier this year, was hanged to death the authori- missing. Surges 984 Points
in the early hours of Wednesday in ties did not Shehbaz’s
Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Central Jail. allow the live Karachi: Th e stock market bounced Limited Head of Sales Saad bin Ahmed
Ali was executed in the pres- telecast of Remand Extended back on Wednesday from its continued while talking to Th e Express Tribune.
ence of both Magistrate Adil Sarwar the hanging. dismal performance as renewed buying “Investors are buying stocks at lower
and the deceased’s father, Muham- “Zainab by 14 Days interest lent support to the index, which prices and selling them at low margins.”
mad Amin Ansari, both of whom would have surged nearly 1,000 points. “Th e across-the-board buying is
arrived early morning at the Kot been seven Islamabad: An accountability court Th e KSE-100 index shot up from (partially) backed by the government’s
Lakhpat Jail. Zainab’s uncle was also years, two on Tuesday extended the remand the moment trading began, gaining over assurance to stockbrokers of considering
present at Kot Lakhpat. months old today,” he said. “Her of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz 2% to power past the 37,600-point mark. reduction in tax rates on shares trading,”
“Imran was taken to the gallows mother is devastated from grief.” (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif Investors picked up stocks at attractive Elixir Securities’ analyst Muhammad Ar-
just before dawn and he has been Ansari also thanked the chief by 14 days in the Ashiana Housing valuations as the index was at a 28-month bash said.
hanged with a rope in the presence justice of Pakistan and said that the Scheme case. low. All index-heavy sectors, including He said the imposition of regulato-
of magistrate and a doctor,” local po- “murderer had met his fate today”. In a dramatic turn of events, automobile, cement and exploration and ry duty on the import of over 500 goods,
lice offi cial Mohammad Afzal said. Aft er the execution, Ali’s fam- the leader of the opposition in the production, closed in the black. provision of gas to fi ve zero-rated export
An ambulance had also ar- ily — accompanied by police contin- National Assembly was arrested by Earlier at 13:06, the KSE-100 index, sectors at a concessionary price and up-
rived at the scene, accompanied by a gents — took his body to Kasur. NAB over his alleged involvement in a benchmark for market performance, coming talks between Pakistan and the
brother of the convict as well as two Late on Tuesday evening, jail a multi-billion rupee housing scam, was up 791.59 points or 2.16% to stand at International Monetary Fund (IMF) for
of his friends. A medical offi cer as authorities had arranged a last meet- the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Project. 37,454.97 points. a bailout package were all positive de-
well as Kot Lakhpat’s superintendent ing of some 57 relatives with the He was arrested inside the anti- In the past four sessions, the in- velopments aimed at fi xing the faltering
were in the jail as well. death row prisoner. graft watchdog’s Lahore offi ce where dex had cumulatively dropped 5.6% and economy.
Contingents of police and anti- Zainab’s rape and murder - the he was summoned to record his closed at the 28-month low of 36,633.83 At close, the benchmark KSE
riot forces surrounded Kot Lakhpat 12th such incident to occur within a statement before a combined investi- points on Tuesday. 100-share Index recorded an increase
Jail at the time of the hanging. 10 kilometer radius in Kasur in one gations team in connection with the “It seems to be temporary and un- of 983.96 points or 2.68% to settle at
Talking to the media aft er the year - had sparked outrage and pro- Punjab Saaf Pani Company case. sustainable buying,” remarked Arif Habib 37,647.34.
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