ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s top aides said on Friday they had held a meeting with Pakistan Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, in a rare development to discuss drafting a National Judicial Policy.
The move comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Afridi at his residence, with the top judge sharing the agenda of an upcoming meeting of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee and seeking the input of the government on the draft, according to the Supreme Court. The chief justice’s reforms agenda aims to reduce the pendency of cases and provide speedy justice to litigants.
Afridi had informed PM Sharif during their meeting that he would also be taking the opposition’s input and wanted bi-partisan support for his reforms.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Gohar Khan, the chairman of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said the party had met the chief justice on his request to discuss the new National Judicial Policy.
“The chief justice of Pakistan had shared an agenda with us regarding National Judicial Policy and asked for our inputs on ten points,” Gohar said.
Last year, ex-PM Khan had written a letter to then Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who retired in October, seeking judicial intervention into alleged rigging in the Feb. 8, 2024 national election and the subsequent allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, which the PTI says were unfairly allocated to their opponents.
After the election, the Election Commission of Pakistan had denied the PTI its share of 70 reserved seats in parliament, contending that Khan-backed independent candidates could not claim them. PTI candidates contested the polls independently after the party lost its election symbol in the run-up to election for not holding intra-party elections.
The Supreme Court later struck down the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision on the reserved seats, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordering that reserved seats be allocated to the PTI.
“We also told him [Chief Justice Afridi] that no one regards SC order as a court order these days. SC orders are not being implemented be it senate elections or reserved seats,” Gohar said.
The PTI chairman added that the chief justice had assured the party of taking “certain measures” to address its issues.
The Supreme Court issued a statement later in the day, corroborating the information shared by PTI leaders about their discussion with the chief justice regarding the situation faced by their party colleagues and supporters.
The statement emphasized the need to make judicial reform a “Minimum Common National Agenda” with comprehensive political support.
Pakistan, currently bolstered by a $7 billion IMF facility granted in September, is navigating an economic recovery path even as it faces prolonged political crisis.
Imran Khan, arguably the country’s most popular politician, has been behind bars since August 2023 in a slew of cases he says are politically motivated. His party has been leading a movement, including through street protests and sit-ins, to demand his release.
In rare development, ex-PM Khan aides hold meeting with Pakistan chief justice
https://arab.news/w2fzu
In rare development, ex-PM Khan aides hold meeting with Pakistan chief justice
- Imran Khan’s aides say top judge asked for their input on draft National Judicial Policy
- Supreme Court says judicial reform should be ‘minimum common national agenda’
Pakistan denies reports army ordered ‘depopulation’ in Tirah Valley ahead of anti-militant operation
Pakistan denies reports army ordered ‘depopulation’ in Tirah Valley ahead of anti-militant operation
- Tirah Valley residents started fleeing homes this month ahead of a planned military operation against militants
- Reports aimed at creating alarm among public, disinformation against security institutions, says information ministry
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information ministry on Sunday denied reports the army has ordered depopulation in the northwestern Tirah Valley ahead of a planned anti-militant offensive, stating that any movement of residents from the area is voluntary.
The denial from the government comes as residents of Tirah Valley in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan flee their homes ahead of a planned military operation by the army against militants, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group.
Despite major military operations in the mid-2010s, Tirah Valley has remained a stronghold for insurgents, prompting authorities to plan what they describe as a targeted clearance.
“The government has taken notice of misleading claims in circulation regarding alleged ‘depopulation’ from Tirah Valley on the orders of the Army,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) said in a statement on Sunday.
“These assertions are baseless, malicious, and driven by ulterior motives aimed at creating alarm among the public, disinformation against security institutions and furthering vested political interest.”
The ministry said Pakistan’s federal government and the armed forces had not issued directives for any such depopulation of the territory. It clarified that law enforcement agencies are “routinely conducting targeted, intelligence-based operations strictly against terrorist elements” with care to avoid disruption to peaceful civilian life.
It said locals are increasingly concerned over presence of the “khawarij,” a term the military and government frequently use for the TTP, in Tirah Valley and desire peace and stability in the area.
The information ministry mentioned that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Relief, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Department issued a notification on Dec. 26 last year for the release of funds, reportedly Rs4 billion [$14.24 million], for the “anticipated temporary and voluntary movement of population from certain localities of Tirah.”
It also said that the notification mentioned that the deputy commissioner of Khyber District, where Tirah Valley is located, said the voluntary movement of people reflects the views of the local population articulated through a jirga at the district level.
“Hence any stated position of the Provincial Government or their officials being conveyed to media that the said migration has anything to do with the Armed Forces is false and fabricated,” the information ministry said.
“Given with malafide intent to gain political capital and unfortunately malign security institutions and therefore highly regrettable.”
The evacuation has exposed tensions between the provincial government, run by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, and the military establishment over the use of force in the region.
“We have neither allowed the operation nor will we ever allow the operation,” KP Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said earlier this month, arguing that past military campaigns had failed to deliver lasting stability.
Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shareef Chaudhry has previously defended security operations as necessary as militant attacks surge in the country.
In a recent briefing, Chaudhry said security forces carried out 75,175 intelligence-based operations nationwide last year, including more than 14,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, attributing the surge in violence to what he described as a “politically conducive environment” for militants.
