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Ruling alliance meets in Lahore today amid political, legal challenges

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a key meeting of the ruling partners today (Saturday) to devise a strategy to handle the ongoing political crisis and legal challenges. 

Sources said the meeting would be held at the premier’s Model Town residence in Lahore, where the participants would be briefed on the elections’ delay case being heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. 

PM Shehbaz is expected to take the coalition partners into confidence over the prevalent political situation. The huddle comes a day after the top court rejected a petition filed by the coalition government seeking formation of a full court bench to hear the case regarding delay in elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s party has challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order to put off the Punjab polls till Oct 8. The electoral body cited security and financial constraints as reasons to defer the elections. 

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Later, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali also asked the ECP to hold general elections in the province along with Punjab polls given the security situation in the province. 

During Friday’s hearing, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked that the proceedings could be halted temporarily if the government and the opposition engaged in dialogue. “We will play our constitutional role if dialogue is not held,” he said, adding: “Constitution is the spirit of democracy”.  

The judges of the apex court were being targeted, the chief justice lamented. “We are showing tolerance but we will look into this matter”. “What I have done till today is aligned with Constitution,” he maintained. 

At one point, the chief justice said he would hold some important meeting after the hearing and remarked that there would be new dawn of hope on Monday. 

The apex court has also summoned secretaries of interior and finance on April 3 (Monday) after it turned down a government’s plea for constitution of the full bench. 

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When Attorney General Usman Mansoor Awan again pleaded the court to form a full bench to hear the case, the CJP remarked that certain factors had to be reviewed before constituting the full bench as sometimes there were issues regarding availability of all judges. “We also don’t want to affect the proceedings of other cases pending with the apex court,” he said.  

The attorney general also told the SC that Pakistan was facing a deficit of billions of rupees and it was difficult to go for elections in these trying times. He came up with the argument on why the finance ministry had refused to provide funds to the ECP for elections. He also claimed that the interest rate was expected to rise to 22 per cent, which would further increase the country’s debt.

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M.M Alam’s 11th death anniversary being observed today

M.M Alam’s 11th death anniversary being observed today

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M.M Alam's 11th death anniversary being observed today

 The 11th death anniversary of the 1965 war hero Muhammad Mahmood Alam, popularly known as M.M Alam, is being observed today (Monday). 

Alam is considered a national hero for Pakistan, most significantly, for his remarkable show of brilliance in the 1965 Pak-India war when he was posted at Sargodha. During this war he was involved in various dogfights while flying his F-86 Sabre fighter. He downed nine Indian Hawker Hunter fighters in the aerial fighting, and damaged two others. 

In one mission on Sept 7, 1965, Alam downed five Indian aircraft in less than a minute, the last four within 30 seconds, establishing a world record, with total of nine aircraft downed in the war. 

Alam was born on July 6, 1935 to a well-educated family of Calcutta, British India and was the eldest of 11 siblings. The family migrated from Calcutta to eastern Bengal which became East Pakistan following the formation of Pakistan in 1947. He joined the then RPAF (now PAF) in 1952, being commissioned on Oct 2, 1953. 

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His family moved to West Pakistan around 1971 after the secession of East Pakistan. 

In 1982, Alam retired from PAF as an air commodore and took up residence in Karachi. Alam died in Karachi on March 18, 2013 at 77.

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IHC to resume hearing of PTI founder, Bushra’s appeals against conviction in gifts, cipher cases

IHC to resume hearing of PTI founder, Bushra’s appeals against conviction in gifts, cipher cases

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IHC to resume hearing of PTI founder, Bushra's appeals against conviction in gifts, cipher cases

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will resume today hearing of appeals filed by PTI founder, his wife Bushra Bibi, and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi against their convictions in the cipher and Toshakhana cases.

A special bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will conduct hearing.

Previously, the bench had dismissed the objections raised by prosecution over maintainability of the petitions after PTI founder’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar advanced arguments against the objections raised by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah over the maintainability of the appeals.

Special prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah pointed out that since the original law, promulgated in 1923, did not provide the right of appeal.

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A provision of the Secrets Act (section 10) allowed an appeal to the extent of trial proceedings, but not against conviction, Shah added.

In reply to a query by Justice Farooq whether there was no provision of filing an appeal under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the prosecutor replied that the law was silent on the matter.

Shah further contended that the two-member division bench could not hear an appeal against conviction under the Special Secrets Act. On the other hand, Barrister Salman Safdar argued that CrPC was applicable in this case.

He further claimed that the CrPC would indeed apply to the Official Secrets Act, allowing for an appeal.

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Resolution condemning Mir Ali checkpost attack submitted in Punjab Assembly

Resolution condemning Mir Ali checkpost attack submitted in Punjab Assembly

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Resolution condemning Mir Ali checkpost attack submitted in Punjab Assembly

A resolution condemning the attack on Mir Ali’s checkpost of North Waziristan was submitted to the Punjab Assembly.

The resolution was submitted by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s (PML-N’s) member of Punjab Assembly Kanwal Liaquat advocate.

In the resolution, it was stated that this house (Punjab Assembly) strongly condemns the cowardly attack of the enemy on the checkpost in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

The entire nation pays tributes to the soldiers who embraced martyrdom in this terrorist attack.

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The resolution further stated that the salutes its brave sons, the nation was standing united with the forces of Pakistan.

The eternal sacrifices of the martyrs of the country were unforgettable, the martyrs who sacrificed their lives were people’s pride, the resolution said .

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