Page 15 - Pakistan Link - October 19, 2018
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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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