
PM replies to queries in defamation suit
The cross-examination of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif continued on Monday in the Rs10 billion defamation case, he had filed against PTI founder Imran Khan over the latter's claim that Shehbaz offered him bribe for withdrawing the Panama papers case.
Shehbaz appeared in the Lahore district court via a video link. He replied to the queries of Imran's counsel which revolved around Shehbaz's affidavit, content, its institution, stamps, attestation and some other aspects of the case.
Shehbaz told the court that the then prime minister Imran Khan had not made those accusations in front of him but he seemed to be making these allegations on TV programmes.
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Express Tribune
24 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Imran urges leaders to set aside differences
PTI founder Imran Khan has ordered every member of his party to immediately set aside all internal differences and focus solely on the party's August 5 protest movement, "for which no meaningful momentum is being built at present". In a special message dated July 22 released from Adiala Jail, the former prime minister described PTI leaders' internal rifts at this "critical juncture" as "disgraceful and condemnable" and warned that anyone found engaging in factionalism within the party will be expelled. He said he was fighting for the future of our generations, and every sacrifice he made was for that cause. "To create rifts within the party at this time would be a direct betrayal of my mission and vision," he added. According to the PTI founder, the "so-called government formed through Form 47" has crippled the judiciary through the 26th Constitutional Amendment. "The way biased judges are now delivering blatantly unjust verdicts under these courts is visible to the entire nation. We must launch a robust campaign to liberate the judiciary, for no nation can survive, let alone progress, without judicial independence." Imran said his greatest success is that despite unprecedented oppression, the public stands with him. "On February 8th (2024), the people expressed their trust in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by voting for you even in the absence of an electoral symbol. After such a clear mandate, it is the moral and political responsibility of every party member to become the voice of the people," he added. At the beginning of the message, Imran Khan claimed that never in the history of Pakistan had any political leader been subjected to the treatment that he was currently enduring. He said former PM Nawaz Sharif committed corruption worth billions and was nevertheless granted every possible comfort in prison. "In contrast, never before has the innocent and apolitical spouse of a political figure been imprisoned under such inhumane conditions as those imposed upon Bushra Bibi." The PTI patron-in-chief stated that he was enduring the harshest prison term in the country's history solely for the supremacy of the Constitution and in service of my nation. On Thursday, Judge Shahrukh Arjumand of the Special Central FIA Court adjourned till July 26 the hearing of the Toshakhana-II case in which Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are key accused. During the hearing held inside a courtroom in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, both Imran and Bushra were presented. Later, talking to the media outside the prison PTI's Central Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Imran's sister Aleema Khan and PTI Senator Ali Zafar, stated that the Toshakhana-II trial should be declared null and void, as a closed-door trial is a violation of the Constitution and the law. They said Imran's sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, have both confirmed their plan to come to Pakistan. They said it was their constitutional right to meet their incarcerated father. In this regard, a formal constitutional petition is being filed in the Islamabad High Court this week. The purpose of filing the petition is to ensure that the jail authorities have no legal grounds to deny the meeting. The petition is expected to be filed at any time, they added.


Express Tribune
24 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Opposition calls APC on July 31-Aug 1
An alliance of opposition parties — Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain — has announced a two-day all parties conference (APC), which will be held in Islamabad on July 31 and August 1 as part of its professed struggle to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution and law. "We will hold an APC and invite people from state institutions as well. We will step out for the sake of this country. Whatever issue concerns any section of society, we will support it unconditionally," said head of the alliance, Mahmood Khan Achakzai during a press conference in Islamabad. Achakzai, who is also the chief of the PkMAP, claimed that the opposition's alliance is the first political alliance not formed at the behest of any institution. It is also not created for spectacle or drama, he added. According to the politician, the alliance would continue until the country has a truly impartial polls oversight authority, supremacy of the Constitution, and a parliament that is the true source of power. Referring to former prime minister Imran Khan, he said the leader of the party that won the general elections of February 8 was jailed and a government was formed by terrorizing the people. This is an insult to governance, he added. Achakzai claimed that anti-terrorism courts (ATC) sentenced both adults and minors to ten years in prison in the May 9 cases. "We will go from street to street and alley to alley in protest against this government. We will protest from Gilgit-Baltistan to Gwadar, but we will neither use abusive language nor violence," he said. PTI's Salman Akram Raja also addressed the media, stating that the country needed to be set on the right path as it could not be run through the use of force. "Our movement for the protection of the Constitution' is constitutional and ideological. We do not intend violence. No one should use this movement as a pretext to impose more repression. Our people have been punished solely because they were affiliated with the PTI," he said.


Express Tribune
24 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Govt mulls civil service reforms
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a review meeting on Hajj arrangements for the upcoming year in Islamabad on Saturday, June 21, 2025. Photo courtesy: Radio Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has set up another committee to further finetune recommendations to shake up the existing civil service structure, as proposals have been made to introduce national executive service at the top tier and sign five-year contracts with sector experts. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday presented his final proposals to Shehbaz Sharif for civil service reforms in Pakistan. There has been a growing realisation in the top civil and military leadership that the current civil service has failed to live up to the challenges and even interventions like the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) could not do much due to outdated systems. The premier discussed the proposals with a large number of his cabinet ministers, senior bureaucrats and sector experts. The prime minister decided to constitute another committee under the chairmanship of the minister for planning to develop recommendations for aligning the civil services with modern-day requirements and improving the civil service structure, according to a press statement issued by his office. The planning ministry presented recommendations in seven broader areas, starting from recruitment, training, institutional capacity, the specialization and the monetary compensation of the modern civil service. Compared to the civilian structure, the army's structure of the service is considered superior and more result oriented. The army's structure remains a pyramid with 100% being promoted to Major, 64% to Lt Col, 11% to Brigadier and only 5% to Maj Gen, according to the presentation given to the prime minister. The planning ministry raised seven questions for consideration, which revolved around choosing between rectangular structure and pyramid structure of the civil service. Other options were to go for outcomes-oriented high quality training and providing mid-career inclusions in the civil service. Many of the participants of the meeting were inclined to cluster-based recruitment where the individuals will be hired against three broader categories, general, financial sector and information group. To build the consensus and incorporate the feedback of the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif tasked Ahsan Iqbal to present a final set of recommendations in one month. The prime minister directed to develop recommendations regarding merit-based recruitment of top talent, development of Key performance indicator-based performance targets for promotions, and improvement of the ACR (Annual Confidential Report) system and suggestions for effective alternatives, according to the press statement. The recommendations should also include a plan to enhance officers' capacity through modern technology and systems, he said. He said reforms that aimed to simplify the lives of ordinary citizens and make the civil service more people-friendly were among the top priorities of the government.