SC extends Aug 9 deadline to govt for implementation of verdict on PCO judges

The Supreme Court, while expressing anguish over non-implementation of its verdict in the PCO judges' case, gave August 9 deadline to the federal government for de-notification of the PCO judges.

A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani and Justice Amir Hani Muslim heard the suo moto case on Friday, while the Federation was represented by Senator Babar Awan.

Babar Awan informed the court that a summary regarding the PCO judges had been sent to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, to which the chief justice replied that this was a court order and required no summary. The chief justice remarked that no one would be allowed to sabotage the authority of the court.

Justice Iftikhar enquired from Babar Awan was that true that the court decision was criticised in the cabinet meeting. Babar Awan replied that these were mere media speculations. The chief justice further asked whether the court verdicts will not be implemented if these were not acceptable to the government.

Babar Awan informed the court that the prime minister was not in Islamabad and requested two days time. The Supreme Court summoned the law secretary and attorney general and gave the government time till August 9.

In its May 18 decision, the Supreme Court had declared that seven High Court judges who had taken oath under the PCO were illegally appointed, therefore, their appointment should be de-notified. The government had assured the court that it would implement this decision but despite this assurance the judges were never de-notified.

Confusion over FC deployment in Karachi

ISLAMABAD: Uncertainty prevailed on the issue of deployment of Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel in Karachi as Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Thursday that no FC man had been deployed in the city and MQM leaders expressed ignorance about the matter.
“I have talked to Interior Minister Rehman Malik and he said that no FC personnel have been deployed in Karachi,” President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Dawn.
The interior minister claimed that some FC personnel were already present in Karachi but they were engaged in providing security to diplomats.
The spokesman quoted the interior minister as saying: “The FC are on standby and will be deployed only when they are required to control the situation.”
However, media reports said that Sindh home department had issued a notification last week that stated: “In pursuance of the Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan’s notification dated 2nd August, 2011, the Government of Sindh grants powers of police to Frontier Constabulary personnel deployed in Karachi to apprehend criminal elements involved in firing and killing of innocent citizens in various areas and zones of the city (where situation warrants deployment of FC). They are authorised to cordon, search and use force in controlling firing by criminals in affected areas.”
The Sindh government has already given powers of police to Rangers in Karachi.
Interestingly, there was no mention about deployment of the FC in Karachi in a recently-held high-level meeting at the Presidency.
When contacted, MQM Rabita Committee chairman and Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Raza Haroon said that Interior Minister Rehman Malik had announced deployment of 1,000 FC personnel.
“But on the ground, we have not seen FC Jawans in Karachi streets,” he said.
He said deteriorating law and order situation in the city could be controlled if police and Rangers made sincere efforts without being influenced or pressurised politically.
“The Rangers and police are capable of controlling the situation and thus there is no need for FC deployment,” he said.
Mr Haroon said that station house officers (SHOs) of police stations enjoyed enough powers and if they were backed by Rangers there was no question they could not restore peace to areas of their jurisdiction.
“Lame excuses by police that trouble makers are supported by political parties do not only reflect weakness of police but also encourage criminals to continue their agenda of looting and killing innocent people,” he said

Govt to take all stakeholders on board on new provinces: PM

MULTAN: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said that the government would take on board all the stakeholders regarding the issue of new provinces, DawnNews reported.

Calls for creating new provinces have been growing louder with politicians and activists demanding provincial status for Bahawalpur, Hazara and Seraiki belt.
Speaking to media representatives in Multan, Prime Minister Gilani said law and order in the cases of Karachi and Balochistan were essentially provincial issues.
He further expressed hope that peace would be restored in Karachi and said Pakistan’s security issues had an inextricable link with the conflict in Afghanistan

SC takes up PCO judges issue today

ISLAMABAD: New tensions between the executive and judiciary may surface on Friday when a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will review implementation of its May 18 verdict which had ordered the government to de-notify five superior court judges for taking oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO). The court had given the government till July 26 to implement the orders.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, comprises Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim. Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq and the law secretary are likely to appear before the court.
The (PCO) judges are still part of the judiciary but are dysfunctional and required to be de-notified in accordance with the court orders. They are: Justices Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Syed Hamid Ali Shah and Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah of the Lahore High Court and Justice Ms Yasmeen Abbasey of the Sindh High Court.
The court set the July 26 deadline for the implementation of its judgment after Law Secretary Masood Chishty had been summoned by one of its judges last month and asked to suggest to the government in clear terms to take a final decision on the matter.
Consequently, the secretary sent a summary to the prime minister seeking de-notification of the PCO judges, but so far no decision has been taken.
Talking to this correspondent, a government official rejected a perception that there would be another confrontation between the executive and judiciary and said the judges would be de-notified the moment the prime minister approved the summary.
He said that since the government had not filed a review petition against the May 18 judgment, it was in the field and needed to be implemented. He said the government might seek some more time.
The Supreme Court ruled on May 18 that the dysfunctional judges had ceased to hold their offices after the passage of 18th and 19th Amendments. It said the PCO 2007 read with Oath of (Judges) Order 2007 had already been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court through a July 31, 2009, order on a Sindh High Court Bar Association`s petition. “Thus no immunity is available to them,” it said. The court had also sent references back to the government forwarded to the Supreme Judicial Council under Article 209 of the Constitution which provided the only legal way to send judges home. The court observed that since these judges had been declared as not being judges, they could not be removed through the SJC and that they could be charged with committing contempt of the court — a defence the dysfunctional judges were banking on by pleading that a judge could not charge another judge with contempt.

PPP suspends Enver Baig’s membership

ISLAMABAD: Former PPP senator Enver Baig has paid a heavy price apparently for meeting PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and got his basic membership of the party suspended.
“Your basic membership of the party is suspended for working against party’s interest and policy,” says the suspension notice issued on Thursday to Mr Baig by the leadership through PPP Islamabad district president and Leader of the House in Senate Nayyar Bokhari within 24 hours of his meeting with Mr Sharif in Raiwind.
The action against Mr Baig is in sharp contrast to the party’s lenient view of a similar ‘offence’ committed by heavyweight Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Mr Baig, it may be mentioned, had played a significant role in finalisation of a deal between former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the United States, eventually leading to her return to the country in 2007.
The notice issued on Thursday restrains him from representing the party at any forum, but gives him a chance to “file an appeal to the highest forum in the party”.
Although the suspension notice has no mention of Mr Baig’s meeting with Mr Sharif, sources in the PPP told Dawn that the leadership had taken the decision to pre-empt the former senator’s possible move to announce joining the PML-N.
The sources said it was not for the first time that Mr Baig had met Mr Sharif without seeking permission from the party high command.
Previously, they said, the leadership had shown leniency, but after his second meeting it had no option but to take the extreme step.
But the PPP has so far been quiet about a similar meeting that former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held with Mr Sharif last month.
“Ask the PPP Punjab president about it,” said Nayyar Bokhari when asked why did the party act differently when Mr Baig called on the PML-N leader.
When contacted, Mr Baig said he was surprised to know that his membership had been suspended without mentioning any specific reason. He said he would not file an appeal but would definitely give a ‘befitting’ written reply and ask the leadership to come up with the charge-sheet against him.
Mr Baig claimed that he had met Mr Sharif to discuss the political situation in the country with particular reference to violence in Karachi, the general law and order situation, price-hike and alleged rampant corruption in almost every government department.
Sources close to Mr Baig told Dawn that the former senator had been sidelined by Mr Zardari and was not given the party ticket in the 2009 Senate elections mainly because of his all-out support for Makhdoom Amin Fahim’s candidature for the post of prime minister after the 2008 elections.
Mr Zardari, the sources said, was not happy with Mr Baig for having lobbied for Mr Fahim and arranging his meetings with US and other western diplomats at his residence.
The sources said Mr Baig was disheartened when Mr Fahim became a federal minister and abandoned his long friendship.
After getting disappointed by the leadership’s behaviour and constantly getting a cold shoulder from Mr Zardari, the sources said, Mr Baig was now seriously exploring other options to continue his political career and planning to join the PML-N in the hope of getting a ticket for next year’s Senate polls.
Some sections in the PPP are wondering how Mr Shah Mehmood Qureshi survived in the party despite having declared an ‘open war’ against the leadership.
One PPP leader said it appeared that the party high command was reluctant to take action because of Mr Qureshi’s links with the establishment and the damage his expulsion could cause.
The party’s parliamentarians in Punjab at a meeting in Lahore last month had passed a unanimous resolution demanding immediate suspension of the basic membership of Mr Qureshi for meeting Mr Sharif without the permission of the leadership.
Mr Baig is not the first prominent member to be shown the door for allegedly violating party discipline. Earlier, the membership of Senator Safdar Abbasi, Naheed Khan, former political secretary to Ms Bhutto, former minister of state for law Afzal Sandhu and Dr Israr Shah was suspended for various reasons.
A show-cause notice was issued to former information minister Sherry Rehman for participating in talk shows on a private TV channel in violation of the party’s decision to boycott the said channel.
Ms Rehman, who once held the information offices of both the party and the government, was sidelined also for quitting the federal cabinet during the movement for the reinstatement of deposed judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry

MNAs suggest unity among political parties for Karachi peace

ISLAMABAD: Members of different political parties in the National Assembly on Friday recommended unity and harmony among all the political parties on all national issues to remove ethnic, sectarian and political divides in Karachi and in other parts of the country.
Taking part in the debate, PML-N leader Shireen Arshad said Karachi was the economic hub of the country but unfortunately the law and order situation in the city was not under the provincial government’s control.
She said indiscriminate action should be taken against criminal elements and assassins. They should be punished in public so that they become an example for others, she said.
Ms Arshad said all political and religious parties would have to join hands against anti-state elements and criminals to establish lasting peace in Karachi.
She recommended modern training for the police force and the Rangers and provision of state of the art weapons to them.
MQM MNA Abdul Wasim said terrorism, price hike, inflation, unemployment and poverty were the main causes of unrest in Karachi and other parts of the country.
He said time had come to address the issues and problems of the masses especially the poor.
The parliamentarian deplored that feudal lords and rich segments of the society wanted to rule the country without giving opportunity to intellectuals, scholars, professionals and experts.
Laiq Mohammad Khan criticised the government for not apprehending and punishing the assassins of former premier Benazir Bhutto and questioned that if the government could not arrest the killers of Ms Bhutto, how would it establish its writ in the country.
He suggested that heads of all political parties would have to leave all their political activities and sit together to explore measures for durable peace in Karachi.
Hayat Khan said anti-state elements are endeavouring to divide Karachi ethnically and to destroy the economic hub of the country with an aim to destabilising Pakistan.
He said anti-state elements term each and every killing as ‘target’ killing just to create a sense of panic and hate among different segments of society.

Mr Khan further said that all political parties needed to rise above party politics and sit together for a peaceful Karachi.

SC hears PCO judges case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) heard the case pertaining to the non-implementation of its verdict in the PCO judges case Friday, Geo News reported. A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry heard the case, while the federation was represented by Senator Babar Awan.
Awan informed the court that a summary in regards to the PCO judges had been sent to the Prime Minister, to which the Chief Justice replied that this was a court order and required no summary.
The Chief Justice remarked that he would not allow the authority of the court to be unsuccessful and directed that the Prime Minister issues the notification today (Friday).
Babar Awan informed the court that the Prime Minister was not in Islamabad and requested two days time. The Supreme Court summoned the law secretary and attorney general and gave the government time till August 9.
In its May 18 decision, the Supreme Court had declared that seven High Court judges who had taken oath under the PCO were never judges. The government had assured the court that it would implement this decision but despite this assurance the judges were never de-notified.