Amid reports that the Pakistan government was under pressure to allow Pervez Musharraf to leave the country, the former military ruler on Sunday said he will not flee and defend himself in all cases.
Amid speculation that martial law will be declared if it rules against President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday said it attached "no value to such threats." The apex court said that it will give its judgment on legal challenges to the General's re-election within 12 days. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had on Tuesday rejected the bench's recommendation that all 18 judges of the Supreme Court should decide whether Musharraf is eligible.
Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership following days of high drama.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud posted the matter for resumed hearing on April 9.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan reiterated his allegations of a foreign conspiracy behind his ouster and said he knew that the 'match was fixed' when a no-confidence motion was moved against him.
The judge said the attitude of the accused left no option for the court, but to freeze Musharraf's bank accounts and confiscate his property.
"I want to make a promise to the people that the next election will be held on time and will be fair, free and impartial," Zardari told a meeting of workers of his Pakistan People's Party at Khairpur in Sindh province on Sunday
A lawyer has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking it to direct authorities to arrest former Pakistani ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani and produce him before a judicial panel probing a mysterious memo that triggered a confrontation between the government and the military.
India should remember that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations will remain special due, not least, to bonds of all Muslims with The Holy Land. They would also be strategic enough, irrespective of whether the ambassador is a military man or a career civilian appointee., notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
In a unanimous decision, a 10-member bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal rejected petitions seeking a stay on the election.
The admission came when the country's defence ministry told the Supreme Court it is not in a position to submit a reply on the Memogate scandal on behalf of the armed forces and the ISI.
With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the elections.
Pakistan's Election Commission on Friday disqualified former prime minister Imran Khan for five years in the Toshakhana case for hiding proceeds from the sale of gifts he received from foreign leaders.
Prime Minister Khan, who had effectively lost his majority in the 342-member National Assembly, made a brief address to the nation after a stormy parliament session was adjourned by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Friday said he would not seek a vote of confidence from parliament against the backdrop of an escalating row with the judiciary and military as his government did not want any clash between state institutions. "I have no need for a vote of confidence," Gilani told a special session of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament that was convened by the ruling coalition after the Supreme Court warned action could be taken.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar also offered to serve as a mediator, if negotiations broke down.
Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.
It sought a report within a week from senior officials of Sindh province and the federal interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah.
Describing the re-election of President Pervez Musharraf as a "perversion of democracy," a leading US daily has asked his "enablers" in Washington to make it clear to the general that he must respect the decision of Pakistan's Supreme Court.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Pervez Musharraf to contest the presidential election in uniform, ARY TV reported.
A toilet being built adjacent to the main nets of the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium at the eleventh hour, new spectator seats yet to be fully installed less than 48 hours left for Pakistan's opening World Cup warm-up fixture but Hyderabad Cricket Association officials are still promising "they will get there".
Chaudhry said Jinnah's vision was to see Pakistan prosper as a democratic state embodying principles like the rule of law, freedom of speech, equality, tolerance, and protection of human rights and civil liberties.
Defence lawyer Atezaz Ahsan said the Constitution of Pakistan provides discretionary powers to the President to dissolve the assembly. But in some cases the Supreme Court had exercised its jurisdiction over the discretionary powers of the President.
Having been granted permission by the Supreme Court to return to Pakistan, an elated Khalil Chishti, who is serving life term in a 20-year-old murder case in Rajasthan, on Thursday asked everyone back home to be ready to do the bhangra.
Banerjee also appealed to the people of West Bengal not to get provoked over matters concerning the current situation in Bangladesh.
Communal violence is like a lava erupting from a volcano which scars the ground it touches, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday while arguing for Zakia Jafri who has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots there.
Lawyer Vikram Singh Chauhan once again led a group of his colleagues in unleashing a brazen attack on journalists and JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar at the Patiala House Courts complex, days after they were caught on camera thrashing scribes and JNU students and teachers branding them as "anti-nationals".
"We are aware of the anxiety of the government. I assure you that the case will be decided next week," said Justice Javed Iqbal, the head of the 11-member bench that is hearing five petitions opposing Musharraf's candidature in the presidential poll on the ground that he had not quit the post of Army Chief. The military ruler cannot be sworn in till the apex court rules on the petitions, and this has prolonged the political uncertainty in the country.
The complaints said some 40 animals had died last year due to the nuclear waste.
Ending a legal wrangle over the price of the humble samosa, the Supreme Court has set aside a notification of the Punjab government, whereby the price of one samosa was fixed at Rs 6. The samosa, till early this week, was caught up in a legal tussle between the provincial government and Punjab Bakers and Sweets Federation.
But before taking the extreme step, the family members will sit on a hunger strike at the border and stage a protest before the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to mount pressure on Islamabad.
The Opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate the downfall of Prime Minister Khan.
His disqualification to participate in future elections may follow, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
It is 25 years since Captain Sanjit Bhattacharjee went missing during a patrol on the India Pakistan border. Pakistan has never acknowledged his captivity.
'It is in the interest of China and Pakistan to give a bad name to the Indian Army and remove AFSPA 'completely' from the north east.' 'Hopefully, better sense will prevail and the ground realities of the army countering insurgency in the north east acknowledged,' asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The most wanted man in connection with the serial blasts, which had claimed 187 lives on July 11, 2006, is Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Azam Cheema.Cheema, 57, is based at the Bahawalpur camp of the LeT in Pakistan. He has been given the charge of fomenting terror-related activities in Delhi and Mumbai, say sources in the Intelligence Bureau.
"Under the law we cannot give consular access to Khubhushan who was involved in spying," Pakistan Military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters.
Easing the visa norms that more people could travel across the borders with lesser restrictions.
