Indian army kills 12 alleged militants near LoC

 

 

There was no independent confirmation of the fighting.


SRINAGAR (AP) - The Indian army has killed a dozen suspected rebels in five days of fighting near the highly militarized line dividing disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Indian army spokesman Naresh Vig says the fighting began on Monday after soldiers intercepted some militants crossing into a northern part of Indian-held Kashmir from the Pakistani side.

Vig said Friday that rebels also made attempts to cross into the Indian side at three other places in remote and mountainous northern Kashmir leading to fierce gunbattles with the army.

There was no independent confirmation of the fighting.

More than 68,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 1989.

The rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian troops in recent years, and resistance is now principally expressed through street protests.

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Ogra scam: Court extends judicial remand of Sadiq for 14 days

The NAB officials presented former chairman Ogra Tauqeer Sadiq in accountability court.


ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The accountability court has extended the judicial remand of former Ogra chairman Tauqir Sadiq for another fourteen days.

Adjourning the hearing, the court directed authorities to present Sadiq again on August 16.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials presented former chairman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Tauqeer Sadiq in the accountability court after his extended remand of ten days expired.


Earlier, the Judge of the Accountability Court No 1 (AC-1), Islamabad, Muhammad Bashir extended by 10 days the physical custody of Tauqeer Sadiq and handed him to the NAB after the bureau produced him before the court after physical remand of 14 days.


Tauqeer Sadiq told the court that the police had tortured him and officials kicked him after throwing him down on the floor. He alleged that the investigators were trying to record his statement according to their own wishes and they were pressuring him to involve a few officials of the former Pakistan People’s Party government. Tauqeer Sadiq further alleged that the NAB officials got him medically checked up from a private doctor instead of a government doctor as the court had directed. The doctor who performed his medical check up produced a fake report and despite having signs of torture, the doctor said that no torture was done to him, Sadiq alleged.


The counsel for Tauqeer Sadiq, Sardar Asmatullah argued before the court that his client himself wanted to tell some facts to the court. A NAB prosecutor Barrister Saeedur Rehman opposed it but the court allowed Sadiq to speak himself at the request of his counsel.


Tauqeer Sadiq then briefed the court on the above facts. His counsel told the court that his client had been misbehaved with and insulted. Everyone has got some respect and his client has been the chairman of Ogra and nothing has yet been established against him. Sardar Asmatullah said that his client has been treated with discrimination. This matter has been scandalised and blown out of all proportions.


NAB prosecutor Barrister Saeedur Rehman argued before the court that Tauqeer Sadiq was quite healthy. He also produced a doctor’s letter before the court. He said that this was a criminal case and the accused had been provided full opportunity to join the investigation.


During the initial investigation, Sadiq disclosed a few names and some bank details. NAB prosecutor pleaded before the court to extend the custody of the accused for anther two weeks.The court directed the NAB officials to get the accused medically checked up and further asked them to produce him before the court once again on August 02, 2013. NAB investigation officer Waqas Ahmad Khan was also in the court.


Tauqeer Sadiq is the main accused in the mega Rs 82 billion scam along with three co-accused Muzaffer Ali member Gas, Mir Kamal Farid member Finance and Jawad Jameel, staff officer to chairman Ogra. In the corruption reference, NAB has alleged that Tauqeer Sadiq gave undue and illegal favours to private companies and individuals causing a loss of Rs82 billion to the national exchequer. It is further alleged that Sadiq and other co-accused in the case provided undue financial relief to private firms and individuals and issued licenses for the CNG stations on fake or bogus documents.

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Contempt case: SC orders Imran Khan to resubmit reply till Aug 28

SC issued a notice to Imran Khan over his critical and derogatory remarks against the judiciary.


ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan to resubmit his reply.

Earlier, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the detailed explanation submitted by Imran Khan’s counsel in a case pertaining to the contempt of court notice issued to him.

Pakistan’s top court had issued a notice to the PTI chief over his “critical and derogatory” remarks against the judiciary and judges of the apex court. It said that Mr Khan apparently had tried to incite hatred against the apex court in one of his interactions with the media.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the case today.

During the hearing, Hamid Khan, the counsel for Imran, told the apex court that his client could not even think of committing contempt of court.

Chief Justice Iftikhar asked Hamid whether he had prepared a written response to the contempt of court notice issued against his client.

Hamid submitted a short reply, which said that Khan’s remarks were aimed at the Election Commission of Pakistan and not the Supreme Court.

The bench had termed the counsel s reply as unsatisfactory and adjourned the hearing to 11:30 am.

Later, in a one-page written response submitted to the apex court, Khan reiterated his earlier stance that his remarks were targeting the ECP and not the judiciary.

The PTI chief, in his reply, stated that 45 days had passed since the May 11 elections and no one from the Election Commission of Pakistan was paying any heed to his complaints regarding failure to conduct free and fair elections.

Khan also mentioned the various struggles he had undertaken during the movement for the restoration of the judiciary.

Talking to media after court hearing, Khan reiterated that his party sacrificed the most for the independence of judiciary.

Khan said he has only demanded thumb print verification of votes in four constituencies. 

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Imran says he still stands by his stance

Imran Khan was addressing the media following SC's order to resubmit explanation till August 28.


ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan reiterated his demand for detailed investigation and voters’ verification in the four constituencies in May 11 elections, and said that why he should apologize for contempt when he has not even committed it.

Imran Khan was speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court building after the hearing of contempt of court case against him.

He said that he stood by each and every word he said. He told that by “shameful” he meant that the returning officers did not fulfill their responsibility to conduct fair elections.

He said that it was the first time he came to know that using the word “shameful” was abusive.

Imran Khan repeated that he has not done anything wrong and that his criticism was confined to the conduct of returning officers, and said that he had said nothing that calls for punishment.

Imran Khan said that PTI sacrificed the most for the restoration of sacked judges and that he can never imagine using disrespectful words against the higher judiciary.

He said the independent judiciary has done some incredible work and he always respected the judiciary and rule of law.
It is pertinent to mention here that the SC rejected Imran Khan’s rejoinder submitted in the contempt of court case and ordered yet again to submit his detailed statement by August 28.

The court had given Imran Khan time till 11:30 am today to submit his second and revised reply today but rejected it once again, terming it “disappointing”.

The court had termed his earlier response as “insufficient”.

According to his revised response submitted in the court today, Imran Khan’s July 26 statement was not against the chief justice or the Supreme Court but he meant to criticize the role of the returning officers and district returning officers during 2013 elections.

The court did not approve his second response as well and instructed his counsel Hamid Khan to submit a third and more heartfelt written response by August. 28. The court, then, adjourned the hearing till then.

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