Tit for tat?: Punjab ACU arrests son of PML-N senator over illegally constructed plaza

The Punjab Anti-corruption Unit (ACU) on Friday arrested Osama Abdul Kareem, the son of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PLM-N) Senator Hafiz Abdul Kareem, in Dera Ghazi Khan on Friday for the alleged illegal construction of a shopping plaza over land reserved for a mosque. The ACU said that action was been taken after a corruption case was registered against the senator’s son. Further actions against Osama are expected to be taken under different charges once a formal charge sheet is presented in the anti-corruption court after investigations are completed. Meanwhile, PML-N leaders say that Osama’s arrest was another act of political victimization, adding that already there is another case pertaining to the plaza pending in the high court. Friday’s action could be a tit-for-tat action for the FIR registered against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA and Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh and attempts by the Sindh police to arrest him the night before in Karachi.
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Karachi power consumers likely to get relief of up to Rs7.83 per unit

A relief is on the cards for power consumers of Karachi as National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) is likely to cut tariff by Rs7.83 per unit on power supplier’s application regarding quarterly fuel adjustment from July to September. Nepra will also conduct a public hearing on KE’s petition for a reduction of Rs1.88 in power tariff on November 30 for the monthly fuel adjustment of October. The reduction in power tariff will bring a relief of Rs3.1 billion to the customers of KE. On the other hand, Nepra is likely to increase power tariff by Rs0.24 per unit on account of monthly fuel adjustment for the month of October on application of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). The hearing will be conducted on November 29. According to CPPA officials, Rs10.37 billion units of electricity were generated in October while the production cost was Rs9.14 per unit. Out of this, 29.37% of electricity was generated from water, 15.47% from coal, 17.22% of electricity was generated from domestic gas and 12.12% from imported LNG.
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FIA arrested over 300 online scammers from Faisalabad so far this year

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing this year so far registered more than 150 online fraud cases and arrested above 300 fraudsters in Faisalabad. FIA officials said that the industrial city Faisalabad is being targeted by online fraudsters and the number of fraud cases is rising daily. In year 2022, more than 1,100 residents of Faisalabad became victim to online fraud, losing millions of rupees from their bank accounts. While in year 2021, more than 900 people lost their money at the hands of online scammers. FIA cybercrime wing officials said that the fraudsters grab bank account details by calling through a masking software impersonating as ban representatives and extract bank details or offer changing ATM card.
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SC sends notice to Imran, others as ECP seeks merger of cases against it

Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, and other party leaders including Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry on a petition filed by the electoral body. A three-member bench of SC comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ayesha A Malik, and Justice Athar Minallah heard the case on the petition of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking merger of all cases filed by PTI leaders against the body in different high courts after the leaders were served contempt notices. During the proceeding, the bench remarked that the commission requested to transfer the cases pending in different high courts, contending whether it would prepare for local and general elections or fight cases in different courts. CJP said the commission also presented a judicial precedent of merging cases with the order of the SC. The commission is referencing Article 186A of the Constitution for the purpose, he added. “Was there an example of a Supreme Court verdict to merge cases of different high courts?” he questioned. The ECP counsel responded that the apex court ordered the consolidation of income tax cases pending in various high courts in 1999. Over this, CJP said that clubbing of cases pending in different high courts must have the same point of law. He asked who were the petitioners in contempt cases in the high courts. The counsel replied that Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar had filed cases against the ECP in the different high courts. Justice Ayesha said that the Supreme Court in PEMRA cases had declared that the cases pending in high courts would not be clubbed. Justice Minallah said that the Supreme Court had clubbed all the cases of the high courts in Hajj assistants case. The ECP counsel argued that cases of the same nature would have conflicting judgments in different high courts. Justice Ayesha said that the apex court would decide when the conflicting decisions were challenged before it. CJP asked under which constitutional authority did the Supreme Court order clubbing of cases pending in the different high courts? The counsel replied that the injunctions of the high courts in the ECP contempt case had also been challenged in the top court. The bench directed to fix ECP petitions against the injunction of the high courts with this case. Subsequently, the hearing of the case was adjourned for two weeks. . ECP’s petition against PTI leaders The ECP maintained in its petition that it had issued contempt notices to Imran Khan as well as other party leaders including Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry in the months of August and September. However, these notices were challenged in high courts. The ECP noted that under Section 10 of the Election Act, 2017, it had the authority to initiate contempt proceedings being a constitutional body. The commission further stated that Imran and Fawad had challenged the contempt notices before the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench while Asad Umar had challenged it before the Sindh High Court. Another one was challenged before the Islamabad High Court.
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Sindh LG polls case: SHC rejects MQM-P plea for becoming respondent in JI, PTI petition

Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday rejected MQM-P’s application for becoming a respondent in the hearing of petitions against delay in the Sindh Local Government (LG) polls. Separate petitions against the postponement of second phase of local bodies’ polls in Sindh were filed by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). During the hearing, MQM’s lawyer Advocate Tariq Mansoor pleaded with the court to include them as a respondent in the petition as the adjudication on the matter was underway. However, the court refused to entertain that and remarked that it could not be done immediately. The court said they would see the matter when it comes to them in routine and asked MQM-P’s counsel to wait until then.
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Imran expresses desire to restore ties with US

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan—who had for months accused America of fomenting a conspiracy to oust him from power — has in a recent interview suggested a departure from his usual refrain, and expressed a desire to restore his relations with Washington despite accusing it of treating Islamabad as a “slave”. In an interview with the Financial Times following an assassination attempt last month, Imran said he will no longer “blame” the US and wants a “dignified” relationship if re-elected. “As far as I’m concerned it’s over, it’s behind me,” he said of the alleged conspiracy, which both Shehbaz and the US had denied. “The Pakistan I want to lead must have good relationships with everyone, especially the United States. “Our relationship with the US has been as of a master-servant relationship, or a master-slave relationship, and we’ve been used like a hired gun. But for that, I blame my own government more than the US.” Imran Khan criticizes IMF program The ousted prime minister criticized Pakistan’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, first started under his government in 2019 but revived by Sharif, for pushing austerity measures such as subsidy-free fuel and power prices and sprialing inflation. “When you contract the economy, and some of the IMF measures make your economy shrink, how are you supposed to pay off your loans, because your loans keep increasing?” he said. “Consumption has crashed . . . So my question is: How are we going to pay our debts? We are certainly going to head towards default.” Early elections were the only way to restore political stability The former prime minister argued that early elections were the only way to restore political stability. He did not outline specific plans for the economy if in office but warned “it could be beyond anyone” if elections are not held soon. Despite his popularity, Khan’s path to office faces several obstacles including legal cases that could stop him from running.
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Dual national Wajiha Swati’s husband sentenced to death for murder

Rizwan Habib, the widow of and prime accused in the murder of Wajiha Swati, was sentenced to death and 10 years imprisonment on Saturday. Two accomplices were also sentenced to serve seven years in prison. The sentence was readout by a Rawalpindi District and Session Court on Saturday with the suspects present in the court. Pakistan origin American Wajiha Swati had been brutally murdered on October 16, 2021, by her former husband Rizwan Habib. He later shifted her body from Rawalpindi to the Lakki Marwat area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in his car and buried her in a pit. Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka on Saturday pronounced the final verdict in the case. He sentenced Habib to death, while he was also sentenced to spent 10 years in jail. His two accomplices, Haritullah and Sultan, have been sentenced to seven years in prison. At the same time, the court acquitted three people including Yusuf, Zahida and Rashid. Representatives of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team was also present in the court as the verdict was read out.
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