ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani high court on Saturday directed the Prime Minister’s Office to instruct all military and civil intelligence agencies against “contacting or approaching” any judges or members of their staff, amid accusations of interference and intimidation by spies in judicial decisions.
The interim order by the Lahore High Court in the central Pakistani province of Punjab comes in the background of several senior judges accusing the military’s premier spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of meddling in judicial proceedings to influence verdicts. The army denies it interferes in political matters. It has so far refrained from commenting on any accusations regarding the ISI’s alleged interference and intimidation.
In the most high-profile accusations, six Islamabad High Court judges earlier this year wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council watchdog and accused the ISI of intimidating and coercing them over legal cases, particularly “politically consequential” ones. The judges provided various examples of alleged interference, including a case concerning Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan. The letter also mentioned incidents where the judges said their relatives were abducted and tortured and their homes were secretly surveilled, aiming to coerce them into delivering favorable judgments in specific cases.
In the case in which the LHC issued the latest interim order, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge in the city of Sargodha had filed a complaint alleging harassment by ISI personnel after he refused a meeting in his chambers.
“Instructions shall go out by the Prime Minister’s Office to all civil or military agencies including the Intelligence Bureau as well as ISI regarding strict instructions not to approach or contact any judge whether of the superior judiciary or sub-ordinate judiciary or any member of their staff in future,” a four-page order by the court, seen by Arab News on Saturday, read.
“Such instruction in clear words and writing shall be placed before this court on the next date of hearing.”
The court also directed all ATC judges across the Punjab province to download call recording applications on their mobile phones.
“They shall be bound to record all such calls which they receive and about which the learned judges have apprehensions that they have been made to influence any judicial proceedings before them,” the interim order said.
In February 2019, the Supreme Court delivered a scathing verdict on the military and intelligence agencies exceeding their mandate and meddling in politics over their handling of protests in 2017 by a religious-political party.
The Supreme Court had been investigating the “Faizabad protest,” which saw a hard-line group paralyze the capital Islamabad over accusations of blasphemy against a sitting minister. The inquiry also looked at the role of security agencies, including in ending the standoff through mediation.
Seven people were killed and nearly 200 wounded when police initially tried but failed to remove protesters.
The military is widely seen to have disagreed with civilian authorities at the time over how to handle the protests. The army’s role particularly came under criticism after video footage shared on social media showed a senior officer from the ISI giving cash to protesters after a deal was struck to end the blockade.
“The involvement of ISI and of the members of the Armed Forces in politics, media and other ‘unlawful activities’ should have stopped,” Supreme Court Justices Mushir Alam and Qazi Faez Isa, now the chief justice of Pakistan, said in their verdict.
“Instead when (protest) participants received cash handouts from men in uniform, the perception of their involvement gained traction.”
In the past, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has also accused the ISI of intimidating court decisions, including those that led to convictions of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif after his ouster from the prime minister’s office in 2017. Ex-PM Imran Khan and his party have also alleged harassment by intelligence agencies.
The powerful army plays an oversized role in Pakistani politics. The country has been ruled by military regimes for almost half its history since independence from Britain in 1947. Khan and the elder Sharif both have alleged that they were ousted by the military after they fell out with the generals. The army denies this.
‘Spies vs jurists’ row: Lahore court directs PM to bar intel agencies from contacting judges
https://arab.news/m8j37
‘Spies vs jurists’ row: Lahore court directs PM to bar intel agencies from contacting judges
- In recent months many judges have accused ISI officials of harassing them and trying to meddle in judicial matters
- Army has so far refrained from commenting on any accusations regarding ISI’s alleged interference and intimidation
Three security officials, doctor killed in gun attacks, snooker club set on fire in northwest Pakistan
- Islamabad blames ongoing surge in militant attacks on Pakistani Taliban militants it says are operating from Afghanistan
- Afghan Taliban rulers in Kabul say violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue, it does not allow militants to operate on its territory
PESHAWAR: Three security personnel were killed by unidentified gunmen in northwestern Pakistan in the last two days, police said on Monday, while a doctor was shot dead and a snooker club set on fire.
Islamabad blames an ongoing surge in militant attacks on neighboring Afghanistan, saying Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, leaders have taken refuge there and run camps to train insurgents to launch attacks inside Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban rulers in Kabul say rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue for Islamabad and it does not allow militants to operate on its territory.
The TTP pledges allegiance to, and gets its name from, the Afghan Taliban, but is not directly a part of the group. Its stated aim is to impose Islamic religious law in Pakistan, as the Taliban have done in Afghanistan.
Police officer Naheed Khan said on Monday “well-armed” militants mounted an overnight attack on the Takhta Baig check post in the northwestern Khyber district, leaving a Frontier Constabulary (FC) paramilitary soldier and a police official dead.
“The security personnel deputed on the check post repulsed the attack after an intense exchange of fire, forcing the militants to flee,” he added.
In a separate incident, Rohanzeb Khan, District Police Officer (DPO) in the North Waziristan district, said unidentified gunmen shot dead a police officer of the Special Branch department late on Sunday night.
“Masked gunmen riding two motorbikes shot dead a police officer of the Special Branch in Eidak, a town on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the headquarters of the [North Waziristan] district,” Khan said.
Dr. Abdul Rasheed, who worked at the District Hospital Khar in the Bajaur tribal district, was separately gunned down by unidentified gunmen on Sunday, police said.
“The incident of the doctor’s killing took place in Mohmand,” police officer Ajab Khan told Arab News.
In the Sultankhel Market of Khyber district, police said on Monday a snooker club was set on fire and a warning note left that it should not be rebuilt. The club had been built by journalist Khalil Jibran who was gunned down by unidentified gunmen last month.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest violence, officials widely suspect the TTP.
Attacks against security targets and the assassination of police and government officials have been on the rise in recent months in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with most assaults claimed by the TTP.
Last week, unidentified gunmen abducted 13 laborers in the northwestern district of Tank but released nine, police said. Separately last month, two soldiers from Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps were killed in clashes between security forces and militants who had allegedly infiltrated from neighboring Afghanistan into Pakistan’s northwestern border regions.
Pakistani forces were able to effectively dismantle the TTP and kill most of its top leadership in a string of military operations from 2014 onwards in the tribal areas, driving most of the fighters into neighboring Afghanistan, where Islamabad says they have regrouped. Kabul denies this.
Last month, the federal government announced it would launch a new counter-terrorism operation, Azm-e-Istehkam, but the campaign has so far been opposed by opposition parties.
Pakistan says 38 defense personnel missing since 1965 believed to be in Indian custody
- Pakistan, India exchange list of prisoners through diplomatic channels on Jan 1 and July 1 each year
- Repatriation of 62 Pakistani prisoners in 2023, four this year secured so far, foreign office says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India on Monday exchanged lists of prisoners in each other’s jails, the foreign office said, with Islamabad saying 38 defense personnel missing since the wars of 1965 and 1971 were believed to be in New Delhi’s custody.
Pakistan and India exchange such lists through diplomatic channels on Jan 1 and July 1 each year in pursuance of the Consular Access Agreement of 2008.
“Pakistan handed over a list of 254 Indian or believed-to-be-Indian civilian prisoners and fishermen in Pakistani jails. India shared a list of 452 Pakistani or believed-to-be-Pakistani civilian prisoners and fishermen in Indian jails,” the foreign office said.
“A list of 38 missing Pakistani defense personnel, believed to be in India’s custody since the wars of 1965 and 1971, was also handed over by Pakistan.”
The government has called for the immediate release and repatriation of all Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentences in India.
“A request for special consular access to various believed-to-be-Pakistani prisoners, including the physically- and mentally challenged prisoners, has been made and for expeditious confirmation of their national status,” the foreign office said.
“The government of Pakistan has also urged India to ensure safety, security, and well-being of all Pakistani or believed-to-be-Pakistani prisoners, awaiting their release and repatriation.”
The repatriation of 62 Pakistani prisoners in 2023, and four in the current year, has also so far been secured, the foreign office added.
The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, also known as the second India–Pakistan war, was an armed conflict between Pakistan and India that took place from August 1965 to September 1965. Hostilities ended after a ceasefire was declared through UNSC Resolution 211 following diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration.
The war of 1971, also known as the third India-Pakistan war, was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that ended with the fall of Dhaka and the creation of Bangladesh.
Pakistani religious party to hold Islamabad sit-in on July 12 against taxes, electricity prices
- Pakistan’s tax-heavy $67.76 billion budget for the new fiscal year came into effect Monday
- Last five months have seen steep increases in electricity and gas bills of consumers, industry
ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistani religious-political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), said on Monday it would hold a sit-in in Islamabad on July 12 to exert pressure on the federal government to lower taxes and reduce electricity bills.
Pakistan’s tax-heavy $67.76 billion budget for the new fiscal year came into effect today, Monday, amid an annual inflation projection of up to 13.5 percent for June.
The ambitious budget with a challenging tax revenue target of Rs13 trillion ($46.66 billion) has drawn the ire of the government’s allies and opposition alike. The revenue collection target for the new fiscal year is almost 40 percent higher than the last fiscal year. The last five months have also seen steep increases in electricity and gas bills of consumers and industries.
“Today, a joint meeting of party representatives from all over the country was conducted and we decided to hold a large dharna in Islamabad on July 12,” the JI party chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said on Monday at a press conference in the southern port city of Karachi, the country’s commercial hub. “The sit-in will be held to lower taxes and also the per unit value of electricity.”
Lamenting the increase in the new budget on the tax liability of the salaried class, Rehman said many working professionals, including doctors, engineers and chartered accountants, were leaving Pakistan due to the unfair policies.
“Everybody is trying to get out of Pakistan due to inflation, unemployment and increased taxes,” the JI chief said.
The rise in the Pakistan government’s tax target is made up of a 48 percent increase in direct taxes and a 35 percent hike in indirect taxes over revised estimates of the current year. Non-tax revenue, including petroleum levies, is seen increasing by 64 percent. The tax would increase to 18 percent on textile and leather products as well as mobile phones besides a hike in the tax on capital gains from real estate. Workers will also get hit with more direct tax on income.
Opposition parties, mainly parliamentarians backed by the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and major trade bodies have rejected the budget, saying it will be highly inflationary and lead to industry shutdowns.
Union of salaried Pakistanis petitions Supreme Court against new taxes
- Budget 2024-25 has increased tax liability by Rs22,500 for all persons earning over Rs50,000 a month
- Last year too the government had imposed more income tax on salaried people it deemed “high earners”
ISLAMABAD: The Salaried Class Alliance of Pakistan has petitioned the Supreme Court against what it calls “unfair” taxes imposed on workers under the budget 2024-2025 that came into effect today, Monday, according to a copy of the document seen by Arab News.
The government presented the national budget on June 12 with a challenging tax revenue target of 13 trillion rupees ($46.66 billion) for the year starting July 1, up about 40 percent from the current year, to strengthen the case for a new rescue deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Parliament on Friday passed the finance bill, which has increased the tax liability by Rs22,500 for all persons earning more than Rs50,000 a month. Last year also the government had imposed a higher income tax on salaried persons it deemed “high earners.”
“The salaried class, already strained by high inflation and inadequate services, faces escalated tax rates without corresponding benefits or relief measures,” the union’s petition to the top court read. “The government’s approach neglects opportunities to broaden the tax base by targeting non-filers and the informal sector, crucial for equitable taxation.”
The petition said increased taxation would contribute to the brain drain of skilled professionals and capital flight, which were detrimental to Pakistan’s economic growth and stability, while also highlighting the practice of unjust taxation given the discrepancies in tax treatment for private sector salaried individuals and other sectors like government workers.
The petition called on the court to encourage measures to enforce taxation on non-active taxpayers and informal sectors.
“Request the Supreme Court’s intervention through Suo moto notice to review the constitutional validity and fairness of the tax measures proposed in the Finance Budget 2024-2025,” the petition said, outlining proposed actions for the court.
“We appeal to the Honorable Court, under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan, to uphold justice and protect the rights of the salaried class and all taxpayers in Pakistan. The current taxation policies threaten economic stability and fairness. We seek your urgent attention and intervention to ensure that taxation policies align with principles of equity, economic growth, and national development.”
The rise in the Pakistan government’s tax target is made up of a 48 percent increase in direct taxes and a 35 percent hike in indirect taxes over revised estimates of the current year. Non-tax revenue, including petroleum levies, is seen increasing by 64 percent. The tax would increase to 18 percent on textile and leather products as well as mobile phones besides a hike in the tax on capital gains from real estate. Workers will also get hit with more direct tax on income.
Opposition parties, mainly parliamentarians backed by the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and major trade bodies have rejected the budget, saying it will be highly inflationary and lead to industry shutdowns. On Monday, a main religious political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, announced it would hold a sit-in in Islamabad against taxes and inflation from July 12.
Pakistan’s central bank has also warned of possible inflationary effects from the budget, saying limited progress in structural reforms to broaden the tax base meant increased revenue must come from hiking taxes.
The upcoming year’s growth target has been set at 3.6 percent, with inflation projected at 12 percent.
Pakistani court sentences Christian man to death for posting hateful content against Muslims
- Ehsan Shan, not party to Qur’an’s desecration, was accused of reposting its defaced pages on TikTok
- Shan to appeal death sentence issued by court in Pakistan’s eastern city of Sahiwal, says lawyer
MULTAN, Pakistan: A court in Pakistan sentenced a Christian man to death for sharing what it said was hateful content against Muslims on social media after one of the worst mob attacks on Christians in the eastern Punjab province last year, his lawyer said Monday.
In August 2023, groups of Muslim men burned dozens of homes and churches in the city of Jaranwala after some residents claimed they saw two Christian men tearing out pages from Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an, throwing them on the ground and writing insulting remarks on other pages, authorities said. The two men were later arrested.
No casualties were reported at the time as terrified Christians fled their homes to safer areas. Though the police arrested more than 100 suspects following the attacks, it remained unclear if any were convicted.
Ehsan Shan, though not party to the desecration, was accused of reposting the defaced pages of the Qur’an on his TikTok account, his lawyer Khurram Shahzad told The Associated Press. He also said he would appeal against the death sentence issued Saturday by a court in the city of Sahiwal in Punjab province.
Amir Farooq, a police officer who arrested Shan, said the man shared “the hateful content at a sensitive time when authorities were already struggling to contain the violence.”
Naveed Kashif, a local priest at a church in Sahiwal, said while he didn’t excuse what Shan posted, he wondered ” why the court ordered such an extreme verdict when those linked to the attacks are yet to be punished.”
Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan. Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, often just the accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.
Earlier this month, 72-year-old Nazir Masih died after he was attacked by an angry mob in May following accusations of blasphemy.
