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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIV No 95 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
IHC ORDERS OPEN COURT HEARING OF IMRAN’S BAIL PLEA thursday, 5 october, 2023 i 18 Rabi ul awal, 1445
CYPHER CASE
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IHC CJ says documents which are to be kept confidential will remain so
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Court fixes hearing of bail application on Oct 9
Special court also terms in-camera trial ‘unconstitutional’
Imran Khan’s attorney deems century-old in-camera trial law ‘unconstitutional’ RAWALPINDI
Staff RepoRt
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ISLAMABAD
Staff RepoRt
HE Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected on Wednesday the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) petition to hold in-camera proceedings of ousted premier Imran Khan’s bail plea in the cypher case. IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq had reserved his decision on the FIA’s plea earlier this week. Announcing the verdict, the court said that the matter will be heard before an open court. The documents which are to be kept confidential will remain so after consulting with the counsels,
said CJ Farooq. The court fixed the bail application for hearing on October 9. The cypher case concerns a diplomatic cable, which reportedly went missing from Imran’s possession. His party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had claimed that the cypher contained a threat from the United States to remove Imran from the Prime Minister’s Office. Imran was ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022. He has been arrested twice since, with the second arrest made on August 5, 2023, after a district and sessions court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. The sentence was later suspended by the IHC but it emerged that he had
May 9 attacks orchestrated to ‘remove army chief’, claims PTI’s Usman Dar LAHORE
Staff RepoRt
PTI leader Usman Dar, who had allegedly gone missing according to his party, resurfaced on Wednesday and opined that the May 9 attacks were aimed at “removing the army chief”. “Of course, the incident was orchestrated to thwart the appointment [of the army chief]. I believe that Imran also had information from within the institution suggesting that the long march could potentially influence either the appointment or the removal of Gen Asim Munir,” he said. Dar also announced quitting the PTI and politics, noting that he initiated his political journey with the Imran-led party and was now concluding it at the very same starting point. Last month, the PTI had claimed that Dar was “abducted” in Karachi’s Malir Cantt by “unknown persons” and taken to an undisclosed location. The local police had denied arresting the PTI leader. Dar’s mother had also released a video message claiming her son had been abducted and that the ‘abductors’ were denying the whereabouts of her son. She had demanded that her son should be produced before the courts so that he could defend allegations levelled against him.
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An in-camera trial of charges framed under a 100-year-old law – Official Secrets Act – cannot be held, said ousted premier Imran Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar on Wednesday, terming the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) request “unconstitutional”. He was speaking to the media while a special court conducted hearing of the case inside Adiala jail premises. The hearing was held amid stringent security outside the prison premises, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran and former interior minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi are currently incarcerated, Safdar stressed that if the trial is to be held, it must be held before the public. The counsel said he spoke to the ousted premier briefly today and the latter prohibited his legal team from entering into “any kind of deal”. A more detailed conversation will be held with him tomorrow (Thursday), said Safdar.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03 been sent on judicial remand in the cypher case. The PTI chief faces over 150 criminal cases. On September 26, the judicial remand of Imran and former interior minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also implicated in the cypher case, was extended till October 10. On September 30, both the PTI leaders were declared principal accused by the FIA in its challan submitted before a special court established under
the Official Secrets Act. Earlier this week, the FIA had sought in-camera proceedings of the PTI chief’s bail plea in the cypher case arguing that an open court hearing could adversely affect Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with other countries. Earlier in the today, the federal body also sought a closed door trial but its request was rejected by the special court.
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Pakistan tightens control around Afghan Transit Trade; but why now?
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Bans, processing fees, increased checks and bank guarantees slapped on Afghan imports ISLAMABAD
Shahnawaz ali
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Ministry of Commerce, in multiple notifications, have strictly tightened Pakistan’s policy stance on being a transit country of commercial imports to Afghanistan. The Ministry of Commerce by the means of SRO 1397(1), has banned various goods to be transited through Pakistan, into Afghanistan. This includes various categories of fabrics, tyres, black tea, home appliances, toiletries, cosmetics, and nuts. The banned items have been rendered “prone to smuggling” by the ministry of commerce. Moreover, on the recommendation of the ministry of commerce, FBR has imposed a 10 % process-
ing fee on major categories of Afghan transit commercial goods. According to the notification, the federal government has imposed a processing fee at the rate of 10% ad valorem on the Afghan transit commercial goods imported into Afghanistan via Pakistan. Major categories include confectionery and chocolates, footwear, machinery (mechanical and electrical), blankets as well as home textiles and garments. In two separate SROs, the FBR has also put forward draft resolutions of stricter controls on the transit trades including checks and guarantees to ensure that the consignments reach their destinations. The FBR has proposed new conditions of increasing the incidence of scanning the consignments after the Goods Declaration (GD) has been signed. The FBR has also
floated draft resolutions for mandating a bank guarantee equal to duties and taxes of the consignment in order to ensure that the Afghanistan-bound goods reach their final destination. These guarantees could be encashed in case the imported goods do not reach Kabul. What is the Reason? Afghanistan is a landlocked country that does not have access to a port of its own. Meaning that any major trade that happens in or out of Afghanistan, happens through another country. Therefore any imports received at a Pakistani port, meant for Afghanistan are transited through Pakistan to Afghanistan. The selling of in-transit goods inside the transit country (in this case Pakistan) is considered illegal and is under the ambit of smuggling.
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Pakistan buys first LNG spot cargo since 2022 g
PLL has bought a cargo from Vitol for $15.97/mmbtu PROFIT
Daniyal ahmaD
For the first time in over a year, Pakistan has acquired a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from the spot market. The state-owned Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) has secured a single shipment for December from the global commodity trader Vitol at a hefty 13% premium to the current spot prices against the Japan/Korea Marker (JKM). PLL was seeking two shipments for December. It received two offers from the commodity traders Vitol and Trafigura. Vitol had proposed one shipment for delivery between 7-8 December at $15.97/mmbtu. On the other hand, Trafigura had suggested two shipments for delivery between 7-8 December and 1314 December at $18.39/mmbtu and $19.39/mmbtu respectively. To put these prices into perspective, spot prices for LNG shipments are trading between $11.38/mmbtu on the Dutch TTF Natural Gas and $14.25/mmbtu on the JKM. “Vitol has offered a reasonable price. We have to bear in mind that traders would charge a premium for country risk when supplying to Pakistan,” elucidates Shahid Karim, CEO of LNGFlex and former CEO of Daewoo Gas. But, what is the reason for this premium? “The offers from Trafigura and Vitol, at exorbitant premiums, are the consequence of the twelve to eighteen months where Pakistan was on the verge of default, where import payments were delayed, and where dividends royalties were withheld,” expounds Mustafa Pasha, Chief Investment Officer at Lakson Investments. “All of this has led to the supply chain for Pakistan being jeopardised globally. It will take time for the confidence of those suppliers to be restored. Until then, there will be fewer people willing to do business with you and those that do will demand terms that are harsh,” Pasha continues. However, Pakistan is also in a precarious situation financially. Ignoring the fact that our sovereign risk has increased over Pasha’s aforementioned time period, why did we pay the premium when we’re also struggling? WHY’D WE PAY THE PREMIUM? Let’s make one thing clear. Premiums are exorbitant for everyone, not just the initial payment. “The premium will trickle down to customers, and will fuel inflation, elucidates Ahsan Mehanti, CEO at Rayaan Commodities. Nevertheless, Pakistan needs LNG,” Mehanti asserts. Pakistan faced a cold shoulder when it solicited its tender for LNG cargoes in June, and it spurned Trafigura’s offer in August as well when the trader proffered two cargoes for December and January at a 30% premium. Abandoning the tender after these repeated blunders could have spelled trouble for Pakistan. “Aborting this tender would expose Pakistan to adverse repercussions in the LNG market. Repeated tender cancellations and non-awards, whether due to foreign reserve constraints or premium pricing, can impair Pakistan’s credibility and bargaining power,” expounds Jawad Majeed, General Manager at Tabeer Energy. Would it matter if we jeopardise our relationship with commodity traders for LNG
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