According to sources, the reparations for workers’ convention have been completed. Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto will address the public gathering.
The PPP chief will also hold meetings with Awami National Party (ANP) leaders at Bacha Khan Markaz.
During the proceedings, IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah asked the FIA official to read the lines from which the agency has deduced the defamatory comments on which, the director FIA read the sentence said by Mohsin Baig in which Murad Saeed was defamed.
The judge then asked that if someone quotes a book, how can it be termed as obscene. Justice Athar asked when there were four people in the program, why only Mohsin Baig was arrested.
Subsequently, the hearing has been adjourned.
Earlier in the day, IHC had summoned director of FIA cybercrime wing on immediate basis, stating, “Why should we not register contempt of court case against the FIA? Do they think they are above the law?”
Previously, Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday approved three-day remand of journalist Mohsin Baig.
Inspector Sajid Cheema said that they have to recover the pistol used by the journalist on which Mohsin Baig’s lawyer replied that the pistol is already in police custody.
Mohsin Baig said that it does not matter to him even if he is kept in remand for 15 more days.
On February 17, Advocate General (AG) Niazullah Niazi while briefing Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the Additional Sessions Judge in the Mohsin Baig case issued the order in a hurry and the legal requirements were not fulfilled.
Advocate General Islamabad Niazullah Niazi called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and briefed him on the case of journalist Mohsin Baig.
During the meeting, Advocate General Islamabad Niazullah Niazi told PM Imran, "Some elements are giving wrong color to the issue in opposition to PTI". No one is above law. Mohsin Baig injured the FIA official, he added.
The AG went on to say that Mohsin Baig fired at the police and FIA personnel and threatened them.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the law is equal for all, adding that the opposition has no agenda to criticize the government.
He said that constructive criticism is beneficial for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. “The opposition is launching criticism against the government without any agenda,” he added.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 1,360 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Till now 13,454 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 8,030 in Sindh 6,207 in KP, 1,004 in Islamabad, 783 in Azad Kashmir, 373 in Balochistan, and 189 in GB.
Furthermore 564,522 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 499,063 in Punjab 214,955 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 133,839 in Islamabad, 42,669 in Azad Kashmir 35,274 in Balochistan and 11,358 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Both laws were signed by the president after the Cabinet approved them. The changes made in the electronic crimes act have been made under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022.
Under the ordinance, the definition of a “person” has been broadened to include any company, association, institution, organisation, authority, or any other. Furthermore, anyone found guilty of attacking a person’s “identity” will now be sentenced to five years instead of three years.
The ordinance also states the informant or the complainant shall be “aggrieved person, his authorised representative, or his guardian, where such person is a minor or a member of the public in respect of a public figure or a holder of public office”.
Cases falling under PECA will be supervised by a high court and the trial court will have to conclude the case within six months.
“The court shall submit a monthly progress report of any pending trial to the concerned high court and shall give reasons for the inability of the court to expeditiously conclude the trial,” says the ordinance.
Apart from sending the report to the high courts, copies of the progress report will be sent to the law secretary if the case is registered in the Islamabad Capital Territory. However, if a case is registered in a province, then the copies of the report will be submitted to the “provincial secretaries of prosecution departments, the prosecutor general or advocate general”.
The ordinance also authorises the high court to issue “fresh timelines” of a case if it finds the “reasons” given by the trial court “plausible” and beyond its control.
The ordinance also empowers the high courts to summon federal or provincial government officers to remove any “difficulties, hindrances and obstacles” it finds in the case.
If the law secretaries find that the case was delayed due to the “presiding officer or any of its functionaries” then they may inform the high court. If the high court is of the view that the delay in the disposal of a trial is attributable to the presiding officer of the court or any other court functionary then they can initiate or “direct commencement of appropriate disciplinary proceedings."
The ordinance also empowers the chief justice of every high court to nominate a judge along with other officers.
He said that PTI legislators and their allies in parliament would collectively defeat such attempts by the Opposition leaders to evade accountability.
The minister, who is also the vice chairman of the ruling PTI, quoted Prime Minister Imran Khan as saying that there is zero possibility for an NRO for the accused politicians.
On his twitter handle, the vice-chairman wrote: “Announcement to present no-confidence motion is an attempt at a bargaining chip for a fresh deal. PTI parliamentarians & our allies will collectively defeat their attempts to evade accountability. As PM Imran Khan has consistently stated, the possibility of an NRO is zero.”
Multan was given a 106-run target by United after Islamabad skipper Asif Ali elected to bat first at the toss. Going in the match Islamabad United needed to win the game if they wanted to make it to the playoffs easily.
However, Quetta’s win over Karachi Kings by 23 runs had tipped the odds in United’s favour. The Asif Ali-led side needed to ensure that Sultans do not reach the target in 3.5 overs, which they completed.
Sultans needed one player to stand till the end, as the pitch was difficult to bat at, and Multan skipper Mohammad Rizwan stayed till the end to complete the chase.
Sultans lost Shan Masood (4) and Amir Azmat (4) in the third over in the space of four balls. While Kushdil Shah also went cheaply for two runs in the fifth over.
In the eighth over Tim David also went to the pavilion putting Sultans at 43/4. However, Rizwan dug in deep with David Willey to take Sultans past the finishing line in the 18th over.
Rizwan ended the innings with a six and remained not out on 51 while Willey also stayed till the end with his 28 runs.
For Islamabad, Liam Dawson picked three wickets while Zahid Mahmood picked one wicket.
Earlier, a masterclass from the Multan Sultans helped their side restrict Islamabad United at 105 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.
United made a slow start to their innings and lost Mohammad Huraira and Dawson within the powerplay. Huraira was dismissed by Asif Afridi in the third over, while Willey removed Dawson in the sixth over.
By the time the powerplay ended United had made 41 and lost two wickets.
Sultans continued mounting pressure on the United batters and by the halfway of the innings they were 49/3.
In the next five overs, Sultans bowlers dismissed Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Danish Aziz to further dent the United’s innings. All three batsmen were dismissed in single figures with United reaching 70/6 by the 15th over.
Islamabad was looking to get dismissed within 100 runs but Muhammad Musa’s crucial 26 runs helped their side reach 105 for the loss of 7 wickets.
For Sultans, Imran Tahir and Asif Afridi picked two wickets each. While David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani and Tim David picked one wicket each.
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c, wk), Shan Masood, Rilee Rossouw Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Amir Azmat, Asif Afridi, Imran Tahir, David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani, Rumman Raees
Islamabad United: Nasir Nawaz, Muhammad Huraira, Liam Dawson, Asif Ali (c), Azam Khan (wk), Danish Aziz, Zafar Gohar, Merchant de Lange, Athar Mahmood, Zahid Mahmood, Muhammad Musa
The request to approve an increase of Rs6.10 per unit in electricity prices on account of Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for January 2022, will be heard by NEPRA on February 28.
“In January, the reference fuel cost was about Rs 6.51 per unit,” the CPPA said.
The request is for all consumer categories of distribution companies, except for lifeline and K-Electric consumers and if this is approved it is expected that it would have an impact of around Rs60 billion, including GST.
The most expensive electricity was generated from high-speed diesel.
The cost of the electricity generated from diesel was Rs25.98 paisa per unit while the cost of power generation from coal was Rs14.10 per unit, the application added.
In the petition it was said that a total 8,420.73 GWh electricity, costing Rs107.2 billion was generated during January.
