In partnership with
Profit
Friday, 31 march, 2023 i 9 Ramzan, 1444 China-Pakistan border to reopen tomorrow
Rs 15.00 | Vol Xiii No 272 i 8 Pages i islamabad Edition
Imran unmoved by formation of new SC bench in polls delay case
Supreme Court forms new bench for election delay plea after judge recusal
Story on Back Page
Story on Back Page
Story on Back Page
Post Office yet to clear Rs8.8b to power utilities Story on Back Page
Shehbaz withdrawS ‘baSeleSS’ caSe againSt JuStice faez iSa g
ACCUSES IMRAN KHAN OF MISUSING PRESIDENCy IN ATTACK ON JUDICIARy
g
PTI GOvT HAD FILED LEGAL PLEA, ASKING TO SET ASIDE MAJORITy JUDGEMENT IN REvIEW CASE AGAINST JUDGE
ISLAMABAD
S
staff report
HEHBAZ Sharif ordered the withdrawal of a curative, or second, review petition against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is in line to become the chief justice in September, on Thursday. The previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had filed an unprecedented legal plea before the Supreme Court, asking it to set aside its majority judgement in the review case against the judge. The plea argued the judgement, issued in April 2021, was manifestly and patently unjust, against the public interest and public good, and defeated the purpose of judicial accountability. “On my direction, the government has decided to withdraw the Curative Review Petition against […] Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” tweeted the prime minister. The prime minister, who called the reference “baseless and politically motivated”, said the government would not pursue it further. The federal cabinet had already approved the withdrawal of the reference in a meeting chaired by the prime minister. According to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office, Sharif instructed Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar to withdraw the reference. He
accused his predecessor, Imran
Khan, of trying to attack the inde-
pendence of the judiciary and create divisions by making a frivolous reference against an impartial person pursuing the course of the constitution and law. He also accused Khan of misusing the presidency to become an accomplice in an attack on the judiciary. The prime minister further said that even when in opposition, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and other coalition parties had opposed the reference, and the lawyers’ bodies including the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) had also opposed it. Members of the ruling coalition have hailed the decision as a move towards upholding the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan.
fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:33 aM iftar: 6:22 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:35 aM iftar: 6:30 PM
karachi sehr: 5:10 aM iftar: 6:47 PM
fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:23 aM iftar: 6:32 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:25 aM iftar: 6:40 PM
karachi sehr: 5:00 aM iftar: 6:57 PM
Forex reserves decrease by $345m to $4.2b
Dissenting note: ‘Judges can’t raise objections to constitution of benches’ islamabaD: Judges cannot raise objections to the constitution of benches and if they do so they would become a complainant, making it inappropriate for them to hear a case, wrote Justice Shahid Waheed of Supreme Court in his dissenting note. Justice Shahid Waheed made the remarks in a dissenting note in 2, 1 verdict declared in a suo moto case pertaining to the 2018 regulation of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) that suggested an award of 20 additional marks to candidates for memorising the Holy Quran by heart to get MBBS or BDS degrees. Justice Waheed was part of the three-judge special bench that heard the case. A day earlier, the other two members of the bench, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Aminuddin Khan, held that the Constitution did not grant unilateral and arbitrary power to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) to list cases for hearing, form special benches and select judges. “With respect, the chief justice cannot substitute his personal wisdom with that of the Constitution,” Justice Isa said in his remarks in a 12-page judgement he authored. He proposed that cases under Article 184(3) of the Constitution be postponed until amendments were made to Supreme Court Rules 1980 regarding the CJP’s discretionary powers to form benches. staff report
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
Sanaullah for ‘greater dialogue’ to evolve consensus over charter of economy, democracy ISLAMABAD
Pakistan awaits China’s decision on rollover of $2b loan that matured last week profIt reuters
staff report
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday called for holding greater dialogue among all stakeholders including all the parties of opposition and treasury benches, establishment and judiciary to steer the country out of prevailing multiple crises and put it back on path to development and prosperity. “This greater dialogue will help evolve a consensus agenda over charter of economy, charter of democracy and charter of peace”, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said while talking to the media persons outside Supreme Court in Islamabad on Thursday. Sanaullah asserted it will also help defuse boiling political temperature in the country and resolve the sufferings of the common man. He said the government respects and honours the opinion of the Chief Justice and other judges of the apex court. He, however, pointed out that if the dialogue is to be held only for optic purpose, it will serve nothing. Replying to a question, the Interior Minister expressed the resolve that terrorism is neither out of control neither it will be so in future. Our armed forces are fully competent and capable enough and carrying out intelligence-based operations against terrorists on daily basis. They are also rendering sacrifices for the defence of the motherland. Rana Sanaullah said despite all these actions and operations, threats of terrorism still exist, but all the relevant authorities are in coordination and discharging their duties to root out this menace. Replying to a question, he said the stubbornness and obstinacy of Imran Khan is the main hurdle in initiation of dialogue.
China is working on a request by Pakistan to roll over a $2-billion loan that matured last week, a top finance ministry official told Reuters. The rollover is critical for the country as its foreign exchange reserves have dipped to just four weeks’ worth of imports at a time when it is locked in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure bailout funds. “It is a work in progress,” the official said in a text message on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity. “Formal documentation is underway.” A formal announcement will be made, the source added, but gave no further details. The loan matured on March 23. As Pakistan struggles to avert a default on its obligations, the only help so far has come from longtime ally Beijing, through a refinancing of $1.8 billion already credited to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The IMF funding is critical to unlock other external financing avenues, and the two have been negotiating since early February to resume $1.1 billion in funding held since November, part of a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019. One of the lender’s last remaining conditions for the release of the tranche is securing an assurance on external financing to fund the country’s balance of payments. Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday said to have achieved “progress” in external financing from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The statement came from Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus
Pasha before a parliamentary panel on a day UAE’s ambassador in Islamabad Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and expressed UAE’s interest “in augmenting and furthering investment in various sectors of the economy of Pakistan”. Testifying before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and later talking to journalists, Dr Pasha said “there has been some progress from Saudi Arabia and UAE on external financing” — the only pending thing after the completion of technical negotiations. “There are some indications that something is coming very shortly and the matters with IMF are close to settlement as the Fund had been looking for commitments from the brotherly countries. There has been some progress on that,” she reiterated without elaborating but added that a trust deficit had been delaying the SLA with IMF. Responding to a question, she said Pakistan’s external financing needs were higher but support from friendly countries followed by the IMF tranche would unblock flows from other multilateral agencies and the matters would move forward towards normalcy.
profIt Monitoring Desk
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced that its foreign exchange reserves decreased by $354 million to $4.2 billion as of the week ended March 24, ending their six-week winning streak. This leaves Pakistan with an import cover of less than a month. Meanwhile, commercial banks hold net forex reserves of $5.6 billion, bringing the country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves to $9.8 billion. Pakistan’s $350 billion economy is struggling, and the country is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to resume a $1.1 billion loan tranche. This loan is part of a $6.5 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed upon in 2019. The IMF funding is critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues and avoid defaulting on its obligations. The IMF has stated that substantial progress has been made in discussions towards policies in recent days, and financial assurances are standard in IMF programs. Pakistan must provide firm and credible assurances that there is sufficient financing to ensure its balance of payments are fully financed in the next 12 months, with good prospects for financing over the remainder of the program. To help Pakistan fund its balance of payments, several friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia, China, and the UAE, have made commitments. The IMF’s Director of Strategic Communications has stressed the importance of timely financial assistance from external partners to support the authorities’ policy efforts and ensure the successful completion of the review with Pakistan.
amid uproar, senate stamps bills to ‘clip’ CJP’s power ISLAMABAD staff report
The Senate passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, which seeks to strip the chief justice of powers to take suo motu notice in an individual capacity, on Thursday. The bill received 60 votes in favour and 19 against. The cabinet had approved the bill on March 28, and the National Assembly passed it with amendments suggested by the Standing Committee on
Law and Justice the following day. The proposed amendments to the Supreme Court’s rules have generated fresh debate in legal and political circles, and it is expected that the bill may be challenged by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the apex judicial forum. As the bill was presented by Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, strong opposition was witnessed from PTI members who raised banners against “attacks on the judiciary”.
The bill allows appeals to be made within 30 days of an order from a bench exercising jurisdiction under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. The appeal will go to a larger bench of the Supreme Court, and will be heard within 14 days. The right of appeal will also apply to aggrieved persons against whom an order has been made under the aforementioned clause prior to the commencement of the law, provided that the appeal is filed within 30 days of the commencement of the act.
The bill also aims to ensure the right to a free trial and due process of law as enshrined under Article 10-A of the Constitution. During his presentation, Tarar said that the indiscriminate use of the law should be stopped, and that the bill includes the right to appeal, adding that it was time for Parliament to legislate on it. The minister argued there has been a new trend in the Supreme Court in the past two decades where the court became dependent on an individual, rather than collective thinking.
He said that the jurisdiction of Article 106 of the Constitution needed to be restructured to reflect collective thinking. He also highlighted that there were demands in the recent Senate sessions to solve the issue of excessive use of Article 184(3), which he claimed was causing losses worth billions of dollars. The bill aims to solve the issue by limiting the power of one person to constitute benches and instead promote collective thinking to strengthen institutions, Tarar said.