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India-Pakistan

CJP Iftikhar out, Justice Dogar in

2007-11-04

President Gen Pervez Musharraf appointed Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar new chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in place of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Saturday. Gen Musharraf administered oath to Justice Dogar under the new Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) at President’s House. Three other SC judges have taken oath under the new PCO. They are justices Nawaz Abbasi, Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Javed Buttar. New PHC CJ: Meanwhile, Justice Talat Qayyum Qureshi took oath as chief justice of the PHC under the PCO, Akhtar Amin reported from Peshawar. Six judges of the PHC including former CJ Justice Tariq Pervez Khan refused to take oath under the PCO. Justice Khan told Daily Times he didn’t take the oath because the SC had declared the proclamation of emergency unconstitutional. There were reports that seven more judges of the PHC had taken oath under the PCO at Governor’s House. More oaths: In a related development, Justice Amanullah Yasinzai has taken oath as BHC CJ, Justice Afzal Soomro as SHC CJ and Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry as LHC CJ, Daily Times Monitor reported quoting PTV.

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India-Pakistan

Release of two Britons including Rashid Rauf ordered

2007-09-01

The Federal Review Board on Friday ordered the release of two British nationals, including Rashid Rauf, the alleged mastermind of 2006 London terror plot. The other Briton, Raingzeib Ahmed, was arrested on Aug 25, 2006, from Haripur, NWFP, for his alleged link with the Al Qaeda network. Both the terror suspects are in the custody of law-enforcement agencies under the Security of Pakistan Act 1952. Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar of the Supreme Court headed the FRB. Justice Hamid Ali Mirza of the Supreme Court and Justice Nadir Khan of the Balochistan High Court were the board members. Besides Rauf and Ahmed, Khizar Hayat from the Interior Ministry and Col Zakria from the Inter Services Intelligence were also present at the FRB meeting at the SC. Sources told Daily Times that Ahmed would be released in the next few days. Rauf will continue to be behind bars to face a terror case against him, the sources said.

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India-Pakistan

Marriages of minor girls in compensation for murder: SC orders arrest of MNA, 11 others

2007-08-16

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of the members of a jirga, including PPP MNA Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, that decided to hand over five minor girls for marriage to a family to compensate for a murder in Jacobabad. Three of the 14 jirga members are already in police custody and the court ordered the arrest of the other 11. Five girls, Aamna, 5, and Bashiran, 2, Shehzadi, 6, and Meerzadi, 2, and Noor Bano, 3, were given for marriage to the victim's family as compensation to settle a murder case. The order came from a five-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, which took up anthropologist Samar Minallah's complaint that five girls, Aamna, 5, and Bashiran, 2, (daughters of Rahmatullah), Shehzadi, 6, and Meerzadi, 2, (daughters of Hafeezullah), and Noor Bano, 3, (daughter of Yar Ali) were given for marriage to the victim's family as compensation to settle a murder case, in a traditional practice known as Sang Chatti. The bench included Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice M Javed Buttar. In June last year, the court had frozen the jirga ruling and ordered the police to submit an inquiry report within two weeks. The district police officer (DPO) of Kashmore was told to conduct an independent inquiry and arrest the guilty, regardless of how influential or powerful they are. On Wednesday, when Kashmore DPO Noor Muhammad informed the court that the police had arrested three members of the jirga - Hafiz Qamaruddin, Yar Ali and Rehmat - the chief justice asked why other powerful members of the jirga were not arrested. "Are you afraid of them?" he asked. The DPO said that he had only recently assumed his office. The remaining 11 members of the jirga who were also nominated in the FIR are Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Peer Bharchoondi Mian Abdul Khalique, Thull Tehsil Nazim Syed Ali Akbar Banglani, Ghulam Rasool Banglani, Syed Jalal Shah, Raza Muhammad Banglani, Qamaruddin Banglani, Hafiz Banglani, Habib Banglani and Wad Muhammad Nadwani. The jirga, which was headed by Bijarani, was called to settle a decade-old feud between two rival groups. It decided to offer five minors as compensation and fined both parties Rs 1 million each.

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India-Pakistan

People captured during operation against Lal Masjid: SC orders release of those not involved in serious crimes

2007-07-14

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday directed the government to release on bail the people arrested during the Lal Masjid operation except those involved in serious crimes, submit a detailed report on the total deaths and injuries, and provide treatment to Maulana Abdul Aziz’s wife Umme Hasaan. "How many did you shoot, sonny?" "Eleven, judge!" "Eh, that ain't that many. You can go." "Thanks, yer honor! Can I have my guns back?" A two-member SC bench consisting of Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar ordered Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali to ensure the early release on bail of all the persons under Section 188 and immediately lift the curfew in Sector G-6. The bench rejected the preliminary report of the administration regarding the total number of the dead and injured people, as it did not carry the names of the persons. Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Tariq Khokhar told the court that 102 people including 91 civilians, 10 commandoes and one Rangers official died in the operation. He said that of 629 males arrested during the operation, 386 had been released. He said that 241 men were in the judicial custody, while two others were on physical remand. He said that three women – Umme Hasaan and her daughters Tayyaba and Asma – were detained under Section 224 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court also ordered medical treatment for Umme Hasaan on her lawyer’s request.

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India-Pakistan

Rashid Rauf's detention extended for 90 days

2006-12-24

The Federal Review Board on Saturday extended the detention of British-Pakistani Rashid Rauf for 90 days and also ordered the detention of another Pakistani of UK origin, Aurangzeb, for the same period. The proceedings of the Federal Review Board were conducted in camera in the Supreme Court, but sources confirmed that Rashid Rauf and Aurnagzeb were presented before the board and detained for 90 days. The Federal Review Board was constituted by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry under article 10(4) of the Constitution. Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar of the Supreme Court chairs the board while Justice Hamid Ali Mirza of the Supreme Court and Justice Nadir Khan of the Balochistan High Court are its members. Rauf was arrested by Pakistani authorities on August 11 from Bahawalpur for his alleged involvement in a reported plot to blow up planes travelling from the UK to the US. His case was initially taken up by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, but the court exonerated him of terrorism charges and referred the case to Rawalpindi civil judge Karim Khan, who sent Rauf on judicial remand. Aurangzeb was arrested from Karak in NWFP on charges of having links with militant outfits. Advocate Hashmat Habib, who was representing Rauf, told Daily Times said that his client was detained under a substantive law, his case was being heard by a civil judge and as such he should not have been arrested under a preventive law. “The prosecuting authorities might have concealed the judicial history of Rashid from the Federal Review Board, otherwise the board members would not have extended their detention period,” he said.

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India-Pakistan

Top Pak Court Orders Blocking of Blasphemous Websites

2006-03-04

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered complete blocking of all websites that displayed caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and directed the government to ensure the Internet providers strictly comply with the verdict of the highest court. That'd be us, I guess. Goodbye, any readers we have in Pakland... The verdict came in response to a petition filed by Dr. Imran. The three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan delivered the verdict. The Supreme Court issued notices to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority as well as the attorney general of Pakistan to ensure that the blasphemous sites are blocked. I guess you can do that in a dictatorship. It's the way they try to keep the rubes in line. Meanwhile, a local lawyer, Iqbal Haider, lodged a criminal case with Secretariat Police Station against the editor-in-chief of Jyllands-Posten and the editor-in-chief of France’s Soir newspaper for publishing the blasphemous caricatures. Right. Go arrest them.

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India-Pakistan

SC directs IGs to stop marriages for compensation

2006-02-25

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the inspectors general of police (IGPs) of the four provinces and the Northern Areas to stop women’s marriages to settle family feuds, declaring the customs of Vani and Swara un-Islamic. A three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan directed the IGPs to protect Vani victims. The court also summoned a report from the IGPs by the last week of April. The court was moved to abolish the social customs of Vani and Swara (a mode of dispute settlement in which young girls of the offender’s family are wedded to the men of the victim family as compensation). The court also heard the cases of five girls from Mianwali who have appealed to President Pervez Musharraf and the chief justice to save them from Vani, and a petition by freelance anthropologist Samar Minallah against the notorious customs. Five girls – Asiya, 8, Amina, 9, her sisters Abida, 7, Sajida, 5, and Fatima, 7 – were given in verbal Nikah in compensation of a murder to save their elders. Amina, Sajida and Abida have reportedly threatened to commit suicide if not protected from the custom.

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India-Pakistan

Pak Supreme Court extends kite flying ban

2005-12-10

Why? There is a traditional festival in the Indian subcontinent called Basant. One popular activity is kite flying. This is viewed by Paki authorities as a sign of degenerate hindu culture and therefore something to be stamped out if pure islam is to florish The Supreme Court on Friday extended ban on kite flying as well as its buying, selling and manufacturing along with all types of twine till January 26, 2006. The bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Ch, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmad and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari, directed chief secretaries and IGPs of all the four provinces to ensure strict compliance of court orders during this period. The court also appreciated the efforts of government in implementation of court orders regarding ban. The chief justice announced the order while women kept on raising hue and cry in the courtroom. Malik Qayyum, counsel of Kite Flying Association, requested the court to lift the ban for a short period and if incidents occurred during this period then court can impose ban again. However, the court observed that they would look into this request on the next date of hearing. During the hearing, a large number of women were present in the court.

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