Immigration and Passports Director General (DG) Zulfiqar Ahmed Cheema, who was summoned by the court appeared before IHC’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqi, stated that the former minister called a deputy project director for passports at his residence and asked him to award the contract to Security Laminates Opsec. Cheema had been issued a notice to explain why the contract for lamination papers for machine-readable passports was given to the US company.

During the course of hearing on Tuesday, Cheema informed the court that the ministry had issued numerous blue passports to officers who were not entitled to them, but he claimed to have ordered their cancellation. He requested the court to pass an order to initiate inquiry so action could be taken against the responsible officers. Cheema maintained that the backlog of passports would be cleared by mid-June. “The backlog of urgent passports will be cleared by the end of May and by June 15 all passports will be ready.”

A representative of Security Laminates Opsec filed an application to become a party in the case which was accepted. The case has been adjourned till May 28.

At the previous hearing, Salman Akrman Raja, counsel for Reliance Company, had argued that the department had not carried out complete laboratory tests of lamination sheets. He had alleged that the project director for machine-readable passports had manipulated the bidding process to favour the US company in clear violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority’s (PPRA) rules.

The federal ombudsman had earlier directed the interior ministry to refund urgent fees to all applicants who had paid the latter but were not issued their passports within the prescribed period.

The crisis started last December and since then thousands of applicants have been waiting for their passports.

The delivery date for passports is usually promised in two weeks. On April 3, the court had granted a stay against awarding the contract to the US company. The contract was challenged by the management of Reliance Company, a French firm, for violating PPRA rules.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2013.

During the hearing on Saturday, the investigation officer in the case informed the ATC that police had appointed Malik Amir Nadeem as the new prosecutor in the case after his predecessor, Syed Muhammad Tayyab, disassociated himself from the case.

Musharraf’s counsel Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui pointed out that the main complainant, Advocate Chaudhry Aslam Ghuman, had also disassociated himself from the case. However, he had not submitted a written statement before the court regarding his decision. Ghuman said that he has made the decision “in the interest of the country”.

Nadeem requested the court to grant him extra time so he could prepare the case.

Meanwhile, the ATC extended the judicial remand for another two weeks and adjourned the proceedings till June 1. The hearing of the former president’s bail plea was adjourned till May 22.

Musharraf’s counsel had earlier submitted the bail application requesting bail for his client. He had argued that a terrorism charge inserted by the Islamabad High Court did not apply in the judges’ detention case.

The police have yet to submit a complete challan in this case as the statements of judges who were detained in November 2007 under the emergency is essential for further proceedings.

The SHO of the secretariat police station had approached the Supreme Court registrar in this regard. However, the registrar did not give a positive response. “The statements of the victims are essential, otherwise the challan remains incomplete,” said a police official.

On April 20, the ATC had sent Musharraf on judicial remand for 14 days after Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC had rejected his bail and ordered his arrest. Later, the Islamabad chief commissioner had declared Musharraf’s farm house a sub-jail.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.

“I have decided to drop the case as I feel it is in the interest of the country,” Advocate Chaudhry Aslam Ghuman announced at a hurriedly-called news conference on Friday night.

The case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered against Musharraf on August 11, 2009 by the police secretariat for detaining over 60 judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Advocate Ghuman – the chief complainant – had submitted an application before the local police station.

On April 20, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui rejected Musharraf’s bail plea and ordered his arrest. Later, the Islamabad chief commissioner declared Musharraf’s Chak Shehzad farm house a sub-jail.

Ghuman, accompanied by two friends, failed to justify why he disassociated himself from the case. He, however, said the country is going through turmoil and he felt he should not peruse it any further.

“What will the country gain, if I pursue the case?’’ he asked.

Advocate Ghuman claimed he was under no pressure to withdraw himself from the case, and took the decision in the supreme interest of the country. “I’m a professional lawyer…there is no pressure on me neither from the military nor any political party,” he said.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) will take up Musharraf’s bail on Saturday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.

The investigation officer (IO) informed ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi that prosecutor Syed Muhammad Tayyab was reluctant to appear for the hearing. The case was adjourned till May 18.

Syed Tayyab told The Express Tribune that his mother has been hospitalised due to which he cannot pursue the case.

Previously Raja Rizwan Abbasi, who was engaged as a lawyer by Musharraf, had disassociated himself from the case. Later Musharraf had engaged his new counsel Ilyas Siddiqui.

The case is based on an FIR which was registered against Musharraf on August 11, 2009 by the Secretariat police for detaining over 60 judges including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui sought the details of the dual nationals during the hearing of a contempt application filed by a private construction company against the CDA for failing to pay its dues.

The company claims that the CDA had not made payment for a contracted project, it completed. The company’s counsel added that the civic body had defied court orders to release payments amounting to Rs1.9 million in 2012.

While he was countering the petitioner’s version, CDA Deputy Director Ashfaq Memon was stopped in his tracks by Justice Siddiqui, who oddly questioned Memon’s status as a dual national of Pakistan and Canada. Memon responded that he was a Canadian immigrant, not a national.

Justice Siddiqui then ordered the CDA to furnish the records of all its dual national employees to the court in a week.

Later, The Express Tribune spoke to the CDA’s Chief Legal Adviser Barrister Masroor Shah to obtain clarification on the court’s order. Shah said that although there is no law in place regarding dual nationals to work for the CDA, the court was well within its right to take suo motu notice and query government officials on the matter.

“The CDA will definitely comply with the court order and submit records of such employees,” he said.

Barrister Umar Afzal echoed Shah’s sentiments, citing the Civil Service Rules 1973, which say that candidates for appointment to positions in the bureaucracy must be Pakistani citizens.

Political appointments

In a separate case, Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan of the IHC issued notices to the secretaries of finance, communication, information and establishment division in response to a petition seeking the prohibition of political appointments in state-run organisations by future governments.

The petitioner, Advocate Faisal Iqbal Khan, claimed that the Pakistan People’s Party government had made political appointments in state-owned institutions which led to corruption charges amounting to Rs1.8 trillion.

Khan requested the court to order the furnishing of a complete list of all individuals responsible for political appointments which, he claimed, were not transparent and in violation of merit and guidelines laid down by the superior courts.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan and party president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi defeated the PML-N’s incumbents on NA-56 Rawalpindi and NA-48 Islamabad respectively, and party insiders fear that the PTI’s breach of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region would be short lived if the two big guns vacate the seats.

Khan also won NA-1 Peshawar and NA-71 Mianwali by thumping margins, while Hashmi also won NA-149 Multan.

Insiders told The Express Tribune that during a meeting of the top leadership in Lahore on Tuesday, Khan and Hashmi were told that with the PML-N set to form the national government and the provincial government in Punjab, Rawalpindi and Islamabad might slip out of their hands.

According to party sources, the local leadership of the party was of the view that it would be easy for the party to retain Mianwali and Multan in by-elections as they are Khan and Hashmi’s respective ‘home’ seats, while the falling popularity of the Awami National Party, coupled with the PTI’s rising star in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, should be enough to make NA-1 a cakewalk in the by-election there.

The local leadership urged the high up of the party to vacate their native seat instead to vacate NA-48 and NA-56.

Sources said that the PTI’s successful Punjab Assembly candidates from the region were unanimous in their opinions that Khan must keep NA-56 for the greater good of the party and the people of the constituency.

Political observers believe that the high voter turnout which led to PTI’s remarkable success in the general elections could not be maintained in a by-election, which would further compound the chances of retaining NA-48 and NA-56, especially when the PTI lacks an established candidate for the seat.

Sources said that Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who won NA-55 and is a close ally of Khan, has also urged the PTI chief to keep the seat, as vacating it would be tantamount to presenting it to the PML-N on a silver platter.

PTI Rawalpindi President Arif Abbasi, who won PP-13 Rawalpindi, said that people from PP-13 — which falls within NA-56 — along with Abbasi himself, want Khan to keep this seat, but the final decision will be taken later after consulting all stakeholders in the party.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2013.

Interior Additional Secretary Tariq Hayat Khan on Monday informed the IHC that Education Secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry had been appointed to initiate action against Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Bani Amin Khan. After he informed the court that Chaudhry would form a fact-finding committee to look into the matter and ensure action is taken against the responsible officer, Justice Siddiqui disposed of the case.

On April 18, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had held the IGP responsible for failing to prevent Musharraf’s escape from the courtroom after his bail plea in the judges’ confinement case was rejected.

Earlier, IHC had summoned the interior secretary in person to explain what steps had been taken to initiate action against Bani Amin. The Supreme Court had also directed the interior ministry to initiate an inquiry against him.

Last month General (retd) Musharraf made an escape from the court premises after his arrest orders were issued.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2013.

MURREE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) waves of change in the country’s urban areas did not carry over to Murree’s NA-50 and PP-1 constituencies, which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won comfortably.

According to unofficial tallies, the PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi received over 80,000 votes in NA-50, comfortably higher than the 53,323 garnered by Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Ghulam Murtaza Satti, who had the full backing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) PTI’s Sadaqat Abbasi trailed in third position, managing only 28,000 votes.

During the 2008 elections, a much closer result saw Abbasi pocket 99,988 votes to Satti’s 77,978. Abbasi has frequently won in the constituency, which covers the Murree, Kotli Satyan and Kahuta tehsils and has been a PML-N stronghold since 1988.

Despite PTI’s emergence in the constituency, the party could not assert its authority during this year’s polls because of the presence of three traditionally powerful clans in Murree Tehsil, namely Raja, Abbasi, and Satti. Surprisingly, PML-N won the seat despite its poor performance in implementing development projects in the constituency. In 2011, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had transferred funding allocated for some of these projects in NA-50 to his own NA-53 constituency, which he incidentally lost to PTI’s Ghulan Sarwar Khan in this year’s polls.

A political observer said the PTI had much work to do to break the PML-N and PPP’s dominance in the district, which also proved impenetrable for Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam candidates.

In PP-1, PML-N’s Ashaq Sarwar won with 52,000 votes against the PPP’s Sardar Saleem, who, with the full backing of the PML-Q, secured 38,000 votes, according to unofficial results. PTI’s Javed Satti’s took third position with 25,000 votes.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: For a labourer to contest elections is an expensive undertaking but independent candidate Raja Aurangzeb Khan believes he can single-handedly change the country’s fate.

With only Rs1,200 to his name, Khan is campaigning in the capital’s rural constituency against rich and powerful candidates from major political parties. “I’m using a megaphone and my cycle for my campaign,” said Khan, 51, who is trying to convince residents of NA-49 to for vote him.

Khan, who belongs to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has been living in a hut in the federal capital’s outskirts since 35 years. “My total bank balance was Rs1,200 when I submitted my nomination papers for NA-49,” he said.

Social injustice forced me to take part in the elections which I would like to eliminate if elected, stated Khan. Since kicking off his campaign on April 19, he has covered most of his constituency on his cycle, addressing people on a loudspeaker. “There is a need to eliminate dynastic and feudalistic politics which is what I’m struggling for. I believe an ordinary man can better understand the problems faced by the people,” he added.  Khan claimed that other candidates from NA-49 were unaware of the problems being faced by the common man. “Those who spend millions of rupees in their campaigns can never truly represent the people whereas my campaign expenses amount to Rs35,” said Khan while convincing people to vote him through his megaphone.

After every few hundred metres, he would stop to address the audience and request them to vote for him. Dozens of people would gather to listen to his speech and appreciate him. “I know it’s difficult for me to win the election but this is the first step for changing the system.”

I will continue my struggle till the last moment, he added. He said he has scored a small victory by taking on billionaire candidates.

According to the declarations submitted to the Election Commission, PPP candidate Mustafa Khokhar is the richest candidate with a net worth of Rs161.98 million and two properties in the UK valued at Rs8.16 million. PML-N candidate Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry’s net financial wealth is Rs115.43 million while his annual income from 450 kanals of agricultural land is Rs1 million, while JI candidate Zubair Farooq Khan has assets worth Rs11.5 million and owns 15 kanals in E-11 valued at Rs75 million.

Khan has opened an election office in his mother in law’s house in Farash Town, while a few of his friends have donated pamphlets for his campagin. Asked about his top priority if he elected, Khan said there were multiple problems in the city but affordable transport is the biggest issue. “To provide the best transport system would be my top priority.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2013.

During the course of hearing when Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui resumed hearing of the case, Iqbal informed the court that his ministry could not take action against the IGP without the prime minister’s approval. The ministry has already sent three names to the Establishment Division for appointing an inquiry officer to initiate an inquiry against him, he added. Iqbal said the case file was forwarded to the law ministry for its opinion on this issue.

Justice Siddiqui got visibly annoyed at his answer and observed that this was simply a way of prolonging the matter.

The judge stated that the Supreme Court had also directed the interior ministry to initiate an inquiry against him but officials had adopted delaying tactics. The court directed the ministry to submit a report on Wednesday and adjourned the case.

On May 6, the IHC had summoned the interior secretary in person to explain what steps had been taken to initiate action against Khan.

SHO Aabpara summoned

In another case, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi summoned Aabpara station house officer (SHO) in response to a petition filed by Haroon Rashid, son of former deputy cleric Lal Masjid,Ghazi Abdul Rashid, who had requested the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against former president Gen. (retd) Musharraf for launching a military operation in 2007 against the mosque’s leadership.

After primary hearing, the court issued a notice to SHO and adjourned the case till May 14.

On April 23, Additional Sessions Judge Rafaqat Ahmed Awan had rejected the application stating the petition was filed to gain “cheap popularity”.

The petitioner while challenging the trial court order had maintained that the victims’ families wanted to see justice done.

He had requested to the court set aside the trial court order and register FIR against the ex-army chief since was responsible for the ensuing bloodshed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2013.