JCP session postponed until readability on standards for appointments

The marathon session of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) postponed further deliberations with an understanding to reconvene after the commission’s rules committee comes out with a clear appointment criteria. The commission met on Tuesday to consider elevation of seven judges to the Sindh High Court.

The five-hour session, held in a conducive environment, was presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial through a video link from his residence. Senior puisine judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa participated from Spain.

Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf could not attend as he was reportedly unwell while Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was in attendance in his capacity as the provincial law minister.

The next JCP meeting is expected to be held in the first or second week of August since some commission members had to proceed for Haj and the rules committee would have met by then.

The candidates selected to be elevated as additional judges of the SHC were three district and sessions judges Amjad Ali Bohio, Mohammad Saeed Qureshi and Mohammad Abdur Rehman as well as advocates Khurram Rashid, Rashid Mustafa, Khadim Hussain Soomro and Arbar Ali Hakro.

The JCP met a day after Justice Isa’s three-page letter in which the senior puisine judge had taken exception to the calling of the meeting with a suggestion that it should be postponed until the scheduled vacations of the court were over.

Justice Isa had also emphasised that the Constitution placed a heavy responsibility on all members of the JCP to abide by their constitutional duty. But, they are not allowed to undertake their constitutional duties in a meaningful way, the judge had regretted, adding that people of this great nation deserved much better.

“Let us be allowed to do our constitutional duty properly and with due deliberation,” Justice Isa had observed.

On June 23, a JCP member from Sindh, Syed Haider Imam Rizvi, had written a letter to the CJP, highlighting the need for expediting rule-making and settling transparent, consistent, well-defined appointment criteria since the vague and overly-broad qualities such as competence, integrity, capacity and temperament were not sufficient.

Syed Rizvi had also reiterated that all JCP members should be allowed to propose nominees for elevation as judges of the high courts.

This will help prevent the possibility of a single individual making a mistake in the selection of candidates, Mr Rizvi said, regretting that despite last year’s hue and cry, no step was taken to amend JCP rules to make the nomination process more transparent and inclusive.

Another JCP member, Akhtar Hussain, had written a letter to the Supreme Court chief justice on May 20 in which he requested reconstitution of the meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) Rules Committee on urgent basis in order to formulate and finalise the criteria for appointment of superior court judges as soon as possible.

The member had also suggested that the rules committee meeting should be headed by senior puisine judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, adding that there appeared to be a consensus that some objective criteria for the appointment of judges in the superior courts should be laid out in which emphasis should be given on the seniority principle.

Last time the rules committee met was in March 9 during which the CJP had expressed the desire of maintaining objectivity in the process of appointing judges.

He had stressed the need for pursuing the task of setting out criteria, which should not be complicated rather simple and straightforward to make assessments, evaluations and selections of judges for appointment to the high courts and the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani, in a press statement on Tuesday, highlighted the need for revisiting the JCP rules and formulating seniority-cum-fitness criteria. Besides, multi-dimensional appointment criteria should be put in place so as to reflect the federal diversity, he added.

Mr Rabbani also suggested that the parliamentary committee — a bipartisan body which considers the recommendations of the JCP on the appointment of judges — should amend its rules to play an effective role in the appointment of judges.

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Federal Cabinet decides to issue six-month multiple entry visas to Afghan transporters

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday directed authorities concerned to issue six-month multiple entry visas to transporters from Afghanistan.

During the federal cabinet meeting held today, the premier approved all proposals put forward by the Afghan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell. The cabinet directed the Pakistan embassy to assess Afghan visa applications on the basis of existing nationality and passport instead of the country of origin.

Moreover, the cabinet issued the following directions:

A new sub-category under the work visa category will be introduced in the online visa system.

Initially, multiple entry visas will be issued for a period of six months; meanwhile, the interior ministry will have the authority to extend the period to one year.

Documents required with the visa application will include the applicant’s photograph, passport, registration as a transport company, and employment letter.

Exemption from the registration of recommendation letter and Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) from the Board of Investment for visas of drivers, transporters, helpers, etc.

The federal cabinet noted that all these decisions have been taken to promote trade with Afghanistan and amendments are made as the main purpose of obtaining a visa is the only movement of goods across the border.

All suggestions aforementioned will also apply to transporters, drivers, and helpers of all Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) member countries.

After the approval of the cabinet, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will be directed to change the online visa system of Pakistan.

Moreover, for the promotion of ease of doing business, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Board of Investment will link the online visa system with online payments.

“We need to remove all hurdles for Afghans in order to help them and to provide them a conducive environment to invest in Pakistan who seek opportunities in Gulf states,” PM Shehbaz said, noting that a policy in this regard would be formulated within two weeks.

During the meeting, the cabinet also approved the proposal regarding ease in visa policy for patients coming from Afghanistan.

The cabinet also approved the seven-point agenda, including the National Waste Management Policy 2022. The meeting also approved the proposal of changing the visa policy for different countries.

 

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Pakistan's foreign policy moving in right direction: Hina Rabbani

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, on Tuesday dispelled the impression given by the opposition that Pakistan was in isolation, saying the country's foreign policy was moving in the right direction with all diplomatic missions "working complicatedly on all fronts".

Speaking during a budget session in the National Assembly, Khar said Pakistan was playing a much bigger role on the international front than its size in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“We are very happy to state that over the years, Pakistani diplomats, Pakistani statesmen and Pakistani politicians have contributed towards [effectiveness of] a policy in the multilateral institutions”, she added.

With respect to BRICS, she said there was absolutely no denying of the fact that China was the most effective strategic partner of Pakistan.

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) brings together five of the largest developing countries in the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24pc of the global GDP and 16pc of the global trade.

“China is part of BRICS which means all the member countries have to work to cooperate [with] each other”, the state minister added.

If a certain unfriendly country, she said, wanted to block Pakistan and succeeded in doing so, then “how can we doubt China’s intention”.

She said in BRICS “we don’t have a role but we still have core roles in many other international forums such as heart of Asia”.

Talking about the case of Aafia Siddiqui, the minister said as far as fighting her case was concerned, Pakistan was doing it at every level and that the country was consistent in its policy across the governments to fight in favour of the case. "But obviously, every country has its own laws, rules and regulations besides its sovereign right."

“At present, she has the counselor access and her requirements are also being fulfilled”, she said.

Speaking about the case of detained Kashmiri leader Yaseen Malik, she said Pakistan was raising its voice and working on it with "effective diplomacy".

“India today is not a secular state, it has become a rogue state and it has become a nation which is not adhering to the principles of Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.”

She said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari himself made telephonic calls to the secretary general of United Nation and the secretary general Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

She said now the OIC was raising its voice in the Muslim community's favour without any fear.

“Now it is consistently raising voice wherever it sees any oppression against Muslim in any corner of the world”, she remarked.

The minister said the foreign services department under the leadership of Bilawal was working "beyond its duty".

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Imran khan will lead protest at Parade Ground on 2nd July

Exactly a month after abruptly ending the Azadi March with a six-day ‘ultimatum’ to the PML-N government for announcement of early elections, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday announced he would lead the July 2 protest at Islamabad’s Parade Ground against the “imported government imposed on Pakistan through a US regime change conspiracy”.

A meeting of the party’s political committee, held with Imran Khan in the chair, examined country’s overall political situation amid rising inflation and discussed a future course of action. PTI’s Central Secretary General Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, Asad Qaiser and Aamir Mehmood Kiyani along with other central and regional leadership of the party attended the meeting.

They condemned lawlessness witnessed during the first phase of local government elections in Sindh and expressed deep concern over what they called the failure of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold fair, transparent and credible elections. However, they expressed ‘happiness’ and ‘satisfaction’ over the decisive victory of PTI in PK-7 Swat, wherein PTI inflicted punching defeat on ANP candidate backed by 13 political parties.

According to a PTI statement, the leaders expressed their reservations over rising complaints of pre-poll rigging by the coalition government in 20 Punjab constituencies where by-elections will be held on July 17.

Calling enthusiasm among the people regarding the by-elections ‘a ray of hope’, they said government’s days were numbered.

Also, a briefing on preparations for the Parade Ground protest was given at the meeting. Instructions were issued to the Rawalpindi and Islamabad chapters of the party to speed up their preparations and public mobilisation campaign to make the event historic.

They also reviewed government preparations for the budget approval and price hike.

While unveiling the protest plan, the PTI chairman said he would lead the July 2 protest rally, as a strong movement against the government was inevitable. He said people from all walks of life, especially the youth and women, were politically more mature than ever, which was also evident from their overwhelming reaction against his government’s ouster.

‘Local Mir Jafars’ were flouting the Constitution, law and democratic values more ruthlessly than dictators did, he alleged. In a separate development, ex-premier’s chief of staff Shahbaz Gill told a news conference that police claimed the staffer of Banigala, who he said had been hired years before being caught red-handed while planting a bugging device in Mr Khan’s bedroom on June 25, was not mentally well.

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Shehbaz Sharif summons federal cabinet meeting

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned the federal cabinet meeting to be held today (Tuesday) in Islamabad to discuss economic and political situation in the country.

PM Shehbaz Sharif will preside over the federal cabinet meeting to be held at the Prime Minister’s office at 11:00am. The cabinet will discuss a five-point agenda during the meeting.

According to the five-point agenda of the cabinet meeting, the National Waste Management Policy 2022 will be presented in the cabinet while the issue of change in visa policy for different countries will also be discussed.

The cabinet meeting will ratify the decisions of the Economic co-ordination committee meeting held on June 22 while the ratification of the decisions of the Legislative Committee held on June 23 will also be part of the agenda.

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The COVID Positivity Ratio records 2.42 percent

Pakistan has reported two deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of confirmed positive cases has surged to 1,534,603. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 30,392 on Tuesday.

According to the latest figures by the National Institute of Health (NIH), at least 333 persons were tested positive for COVID-19 across the country in the past 24 hours.

Pakistan has conducted 13,759 tests in the past 24 hours out of which 333 persons were tested positive for the disease. The COVID Positivity Ratio was recorded at 2.42 percent.

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Unscheduled loadshedding in parts of Lahore

With a rise in the mercury level, several localities in Lahore witnessed worst kind of unscheduled loadshedding on Monday night and remained under darkness for many hours.

The areas which were affected by more than seven hours of power shutdown included Ichra, Canal Road, Amir Town, Fathegarh, Salamatpura and adjoining areas.

Angry residents staged protest in many localities and blocked roads. The protesters also chanted slogans against the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO). The protesters were of the view that continuous power shutdown is badly affecting business and daily life of the people.

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