g JUDGES URGE SC TO STRIKE DOWN ‘ DOCTRINE OF MA STER OF ROSTER,’ CHALLENGING BENCH FORMATION AND CA SE TRANSFERS
g PETITIONS, FILED UNDER ARTICLE 184(3) OF CONSTITUTION, NAME IHC, ITS CJ, AND THE FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN A S RESPONDENTS
g JUDGES ALLEGE MISUSE OF ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS TO SIDELINE ‘ DISSENTING VOICES,’ A SKING TO RESTORE COLLECTIVE JUDICIAL AUTONOMY UNDER CONSTITUTION
Imaan, Panjotha among 150-200 law yers booked under 7ATA following protest at IHC
Police in the federal capital on Friday registered a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and other sections against human rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari, lawyer Naeem Panjotha, and 150–200 other lawyers following a violent protest outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) The case was lodged at the Secretariat Police Station on a complaint filed by IHC Bar President Syed Wajid Gilani According to the First Information Report (FIR), 150–200 lawyers were named in the case for raising slogans against the Chief Justice of the IHC and the Pakistan Army I was grabbed repeatedly hit on the
which vests such powers in the chief justice had already been set aside by past SC rulings
ISLAMABAD
Oon imports and supporting sustainable national development
The output from Soghri North, while modest compared to overall demand, is expected to alleviate pressure on Pakistan’s strained energy system With gas shortages hindering industrial activity and forcing reliance on expensive LNG imports such domestic discoveries are vital to improving the country s energy
Cone Denim to better leverage its expanded footprint and capabilities The new leadership team will be headed by Steve Maggard, president of Cone Denim, who will report to a Board of Directors that includes both Murtaza and Omer Ahmed as well as Jeffrey P Pritchett Pritchett expressed excitement about the partnership saying “By combining two global denim leaders we can strengthen the Cone Denim legacy while leveraging our collective resources to expand in new global regions and enhance production capabilities in the U S ” Cone Denim will continue to operate as a standalone portfolio company under Artistic Milliners with customers continuing to work with existing product and sales representatives The companies also plan to expand into North Africa, offering enhanced fabric variety and design innovation to customers The collaboration between the two companies was showcased at Kingpins New York in July, where leaders from both organizations discussed how local sourcing of fabrics through regional partners like Cone Denim can expedite product development at AM Mexico
g NatioNal fl ag-c arrier issued over 190,000 discouNted tickets with discouNts r aNgiNg fr om 25% to
weeN
SBP to celebrate Women Entrepreneurship D ay to promote financial inclusion
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will mark Women Entrepreneurship Day (WED) 2025 on November 19 with a series of activities across the country, coordinated through its 16 field offices The main ceremony will take place at the SBP headquarters in Karachi
As per reports, SBP has planned a comprehensive program featuring nationwide workshops awareness campaigns on financing schemes and mentorship programs to strengthen women s entrepreneurial and financial capabilities Senior officials from financial institutions, women s chambers, and entrepreneurial networks will participate to discuss and promote the growing role of women in Pakistan’s economy
The main event will include award categories such as Innovative Leadership Social Impact Sustainability Champion and Resilience Additionally winners of the Business Idea Competition 2025 will be announced,
Five IHC judges move S upreme Cour t against C J’s ‘administrative powers’
only the Supreme Judicial Council (Article 209) can restrain a judge from performing duties, and a writ of quo warranto cannot be used for a judge’s removal Bar high courts from issuing a writ to themselves under Article 199 Direct the IHC to exercise proper supervision of district judiciary under Article 203
The petitions concluded by seeking any other relief deemed appropriate
DEEPENING RIFT IN THE IHC
The development underscores widening fissures within the IHC visible since Justice Dogar ’s transfer and appointment as CJ In March 2024 five judges including the current petitioners along with Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, wrote to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) accusing intelligence agencies of interfering in judicial af-
fairs including harassment and surveillance of judges families The letter prompted calls for inquiry but the commission headed by ex-CJP Tassaduq Jillani collapsed after he recused himself, leading the SC to take suo motu notice Later that year, the 26th Constitutional Amendment introduced reforms including changes to judicial appointments Under the new rules seniority was no longer the sole criterion enabling the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to appoint from among the top five judges In February 2025, the five IHC judges opposed the transfer of then-LHC judge Sarfraz Dogar to Islamabad, warning it violated norms Despite objections, Dogar was transferred on Feb 1, became acting CJ on Feb 13 and was formally sworn in as CJ on July 8 The five judges boycotted his oath-taking ceremony Administrative Restructuring and Controversies Dogar s arrival reshaped IHC administration Justice Kayani, once senior puisne judge, lost key roles after rules were amended to give CJ Dogar control of the administration committee The restructuring sidelined senior judges and fuelled resentment Disputes over case transfers rosters and tribunals soon followed A series of rulings and counter-orders exposed an institutional rift: In March 2025, judges questioned CJ Dogar s power to reassign cases In April, controversy erupted after cases were shifted from single to division benches By May disputes over contempt proceedings and Exit Control List (ECL) cases escalated into open defiance with Justice Sattar refusing to accept a division bench s suspension of his order
In June the SC upheld the transfer of judges from provincial high courts to IHC but left seniority questions to the president By July, CJ Dogar s reshuffling of committees formally sidelined dissenting judges More disputes followed: suspension of Justice Ishaq’s orders on blasphemy law and Aafia Siddiqui cases; stripping Justice Imtiaz of powers in harassment inquiries; and challenges to Justice Jahangiri s degree validity GROWING POLARISATION
Letters exchanged among judges in July and August 2025 revealed growing mistrust Justices Sattar and Ishaq accused the administration of misusing powers to sideline dissenters Senior bar associations also voiced concern when Justice Jahangiri was restrained from exercising judicial authority amid degree allegations
The IHC s internal divide reached new heights when Justice Imtiaz was removed from harassment complaint jurisdiction after she took cognisance of a complaint against CJ Dogar, deepening perceptions of bias in case assignments SIGNIFICANCE OF FRIDAY’S MOVE
Legal experts say Friday s petitions mark a turning point as sitting high court judges rarely move the apex court against their own CJ The case they note could redefine the balance of administrative power in superior courts, especially the scope of the Master of the Roster” doctrine Whether the SC takes up the petitions immediately or consolidates them with pending matters remains to be seen But the filings have laid bare the IHC s simmering internal rifts now squarely before the highest court
COMMENT
SOEs on IMF radar
Neither there has been enough privatization nor governance improved
TH E coming review of the IMF of its $7 7 billion Extended Fund Facility package may well focus more on State-Owned Enterprises, for while the government has managed to achieve the primary balance through higher revenue collection and fiscal adjustments Pakistan’s public debt has surged both in absolute terms to more than $80 5 billion as well as a percentage of the GDP to over 70 percent
This means that the country will face greater difficulty servicing this debt which is the primary goal of the IMF As an important part of government revenue goes to fund the losses of the SOEs, this seems an easy target for the IMF
Instead of questioning its basic economics, the IMF would like to go after the failures to privatize, and thus stemming the losses it has to pay for, as well as amending the laws governing the SOEs it still has, and which will be governed by the Sovereign Wealth Fund, itself needing amendments to its Act The amendments to the acts governing NABP Exim Bank WAPDA and Pakistan Railways are all pending The concerned ministries and departments have all been given deadlines for year-end or early next year but in view of the review which is to begin on September 30, the government now wants the legislation ready sooner As for privatizations, not only is PIA to go again on the block by year-end, but so are some of the electricity distribution companies Though their sale will certainly create an atmosphere of compliance with the IMF, the PIA experience last year, when the sale failed to go through, means that the privatizations are hardly a done deal
It is almost as if the IMF realizes that it will not be profitable to focus on areas which are flood-affected and to concentrate on areas where the government cannot bring the floods as any sort of reason or excuse However though the primary balance has been achieved the accumulation of more debt shows that the formula is not working that the country is still in the debt trap This implies that borrowing from the IMF, while an emergency
Dedicated
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
Population growth only worsens our problems
This summer has been no
In the mountains and valleys, in our overcrowded cities and sprawling plains, the downpour has once again exposed how fragile our systems are Politicians rush to the affected areas, cameras in tow, announcing relief packages and compensation but the
questions of why we remain unprepared why we repeat the same errors and why we allow short-term convenience to overshadow long-term survival are never asked seriously The conversation dissolves quickly into political point scoring and partisan bickering, while the larger crisis continues to grow It is worth remembering that barely three years ago the floods of 2022 shook this country to its core Villages disappeared under water families were uprooted livelihoods destroyed and the scale of human suffering was unlike anything seen in decades That disaster should have been enough to force a collective reckoning, not just within the government, but across society Yet what followed was a flurry of pledges, conferences and speeches about climate justice aimed at the international community When the spotlight faded the resolve did too What remained intact was the same model of governance and development that had magnified the tragedy in the first place The neglect is visible everywhere Forests that should have been protected are still being cut down The glaciers that sustain our rivers are melting faster while the protective cover of trees that could have softened the blow of heavy rains is vanishing Hotels and markets continue to spring up on fragile riverbanks, despite knowing that one season s flood can sweep them away And every monsoon brings with it the familiar spectacle of roads submerged in urban
centres where planning has always catered more to cars and concrete than to drainage or resilience Even when the issue is discussed the focus often remains misplaced The absence of early warning systems or bureaucratic delays in procuring technology become the centre of debate, while the deeper questions of deforestation, encroachments, and reckless urban expansion receive only fleeting attention This selective outrage is convenient for it does not challenge the development mindset that equates construction with progress Wider roads taller plazas and sprawling housing societies are celebrated as symbols of growth, even if they cut through farmland, block natural waterways, or replace orchards and forests The destruction is invisible at first, but every flood and every storm reveals the price of these choices Encroachments in particular have become a comfortable talking point Leaders standing amidst debris often declare that buildings on riverbeds must be demolished, that hotels and shantytowns must not
The rains come as they always do, carr ying with them both life and loss. Each season leaves behind the same questions, not of natureÊs wrath, but of our stubbornness to repeat mistakes. We build where rivers must flow, we cut down the forests that shield us, we mistake concrete for progress and silence for responsibility. Year after year, the waters remind us that what is taken from nature is eventually reclaimed. This silence from the leadership may sugg est a pause , but pauses mean little without reflection To truly honour the lives lost, we must learn what we have so far refused to learn: that prosperity cannot be car ved out by erasing rivers or stripping mountains bare
a v e n s a n d s p i l l o v e r s
surge in terrorist attacks between 2021 and 2024 most of them linked to Afghan sanctuaries Islamabad has repeatedly raised concerns over Kabul s failure to rein in groups like TTP and ISKP with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, during his May 2024 visit, demanding the arrest of TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud Yet weapons stockpiles left behind after the withdrawal of US forces coupled with the Taliban administration s release of imprisoned fighters have emboldened groups like ISKP TTP, and BLA to rearm, regroup, and extend their operational depth across provinces such as Kunar, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika Pakistan’s frustration is grounded in experience For years its counter-terrorism strategy has revolved around denying militants the permissive spaces they rely upon Successive operations such as Zarb-e-Azb Radd-ul-Fasaad and more recently Operation Sarbakaf systematically dismantled domestic sanctuaries and crippled terrorist networks inside Pakistan This contrasts sharply with the Afghan situation where weak governance and fragmented authority have allowed ISIL affiliates to thrive The result is a regional imbalance: while Pakistan has narrowed space for terrorists, Afghanistan continues to serve as the central artery of extremism
The United Nations has repeatedly underlined the importance of national ownership in counter-terrorism policies and Pakistan stands as a practical example of this principle Its fight has been forceful rooted in decisive state action, and strengthened through collaboration with international partners Unlike in Afghanistan, ISKP within Pakistan is reduced to isolated cells that struggle for cohesion and survival The results of this sustained pressure are also reflected in the UN s 21st report which notes that ISKP s inability to establish roots in Pakistan is the direct outcome of continuous counter-terrorism
International recognition reinforces this po-
sition Pakistan’s appointment as Chair of the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Committee (Resolution 1988) and Vice-Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (Resolution 1373) underlines global confidence in Islamabad s credibility and commitment These roles are not symbolic alone they allow Pakistan to contribute to shaping international counter-terrorism frameworks, ensuring its own experiences and sacrifices help guide collective action Leadership attrition is another visible achievement: senior ISKP commanders have been neutralized while others have been transferred to partners such as the USA and Turkey, depriving the group of operational continuity The internal disintegration of ISKP further demonstrates the effects of Pakistan’s relentless pressure The infighting that led to the death of Abdul Malik is not a marker of strength but of desperation Pakistani operations across tribal districts Balochistan and urban centres have shattered organized networks, leaving commanders to turn on one another The UN’s July 2025 Sanctions Monitoring Committee report confirmed that ISKP’s real organizational hubs remain in Afghanistan not Pakistan Despite scattered operatives the group cannot sustain itself on Pakistani soil Islamabad has also drawn attention to the role of external actors Beyond Afghan sanctuaries, India’s financial and logistical support to ISKP and TTP has been highlighted as part of a broader strategy to destabilize Pakistan These designs however have been blunted by successive security operations Every militant neutralized is a symbolic and strategic blow to the extremist cause Pakistan s diplomatic outreach has consistently reminded global partners that the nexus of state-sponsorship, proxy warfare, and unchecked militancy threatens not just Pakistan but the wider region
The international community has acknowledged these sacrifices From UN reports validating Pakistan s role to senior US generals describing Islamabad as a phenomenal partner
in counter-terrorism global voices recognize the country s frontline contributions Yet, recognition alone is insufficient Pakistan continues to press for a more coordinated regional and international approach, one that addresses the Afghan sanctuary problem head-on Without political stability and genuine counter-terror action in Afghanistan the threat of spillovers will persist Looking ahead Pakistan s experience offers a cautionary but constructive lesson Counterterrorism cannot succeed in silos A single state s sacrifices, no matter how extensive, will falter if neighboring environments remain permissive Pakistan has shown that decisive action coupled with national ownership can dismantle entrenched networks But unless Afghanistan develops the capacity and political will to mirror this approach, groups like ISKP will continue to find breathing space across its provinces
The trajectory is becoming clear: ISKP is fractured on the run and increasingly incapable of mounting the kind of coordinated campaign it once aspired to Pakistan s persistent operations have reduced its presence to fragments exposed the foreign support structures sustaining it, and reaffirmed Pakistan’s position as a bulwark against terrorism in South Asia The challenge now lies in translating these tactical victories into durable regional stability a task that requires both Kabul s cooperation and international resolve
The writer is a freelance columnist
The trajectory is becoming clear: ISKP is fractured, on the run, and increasingly incapable of mounting the kind of coordinated campaign it once aspired to. PakistanÊs persistent operations have reduced its presence to fragments, exposed the foreign support structures sustaining it, and reaffirmed PakistanÊs position as a bulwark against terrorism in South Asia The challenge now lies in translating these tactical victories into durable regional stability a task that requires both KabulÊs cooperation and international resolve
Scam calls surge
Patriarchy at the workplace
HTrees act as natural buffers during heavy rains by intercepting rainfall, stabilizing soil with their roots, and reducing runoff velocity However decades of unregulated tree cutting for timber and to clear land have severely reduced forest cover in KP and surrounding flood-prone foothills This deforestation exposes soil surfaces to erosion, decreases water infiltration, and promotes rapid runoff, leading to flash floods and landslides Studies have linked the decline of forest and grassland cover around Babusar Top and other areas to more frequent and intense flood events as exposed slopes generate sediment and debris that clog
rivers and damage settlements downstream Worsening the problem aggressive marble mining and stone crushing operations burst across KP s mountainsides These activities blast away rock faces and remove vegetation, disrupting natural water channels and destabilizing fragile slopes Deep ditches replace natural rainwater khwars (channels) changing flow patterns and accelerating sediment-laden runoff The mining dust harms local biodiversity and degrading land stability causes more frequent and severe debris flows during monsoon rains Mining-induced landslides and sediment overload on rivers exacerbate flooding and increase damage as was observed during the 2022 Swat Valley floods where tens of thousands of cubic meters of debris created natural dams that led to catastrophic upstream flooding and destructive downstream sediment deposits The immense social and economic toll of such floods is staggering In August alone, official reports recorded hundreds of fatalities and thousands of homes destroyed Many schools were damaged or repurposed as shelters depriving children of education and safe spaces Livestock losses threaten rural livelihoods, and infrastructural damages set back local economies Entire communities have been displaced and left reliant on perilous relief operations The frequent flooding has exposed weaknesses in urban planning enforcement of environmental regulations and river management policies, allowing illegal encroachments and unplanned developments that obstruct river courses and increase flood risk Because most rivers in Pakistan naturally meander and require space to flow safely so blocking or narrowing them through
construction worsens flooding damage In Buner district’s Bishnoi village about 80 to 90 households were mostly wiped out by sudden flash floods that swept away homes and fields in August 2025 Survivors described the disaster as akin to doomsday,” with raging waters carrying huge stones and uprooting everything in their path Rescue operations proceeded with minimal heavy equipment as locals dug through debris hoping to find survivors
Nearby in Swat Valley a school principal s quick evacuation of nearly 900 students saved lives just moments before floodwaters tore through half the school building Yet tragedies unfolded too like a family of four drowned in the valley’s floods underscoring the human cost amidst the relentless monsoon season characterised by sudden cloudbursts with rainfall exceeding 100 mm per hour Climate change compounds these vulnerabilities through altered weather patterns, including intensifying monsoon rains and accelerating glacier melt in northern Pakistan’s mountainous regions Glaciologists link increasing meltwater flows to destabilizing slopes and surging debris flux into river systems This added water volume and sediment load overwhelm flood defenses and natural river capacities, creating conditions ripe for severe floods and landslides Pakistan’s annual monsoon season responsible for roughly 75 percent of South Asia s rainfall has become more unpredictable and extreme, as evidenced by the 50 percent increase in rainfall recorded in 2025 over the same period last year Pakistan has suffered billions of dollars in losses due to
a t i o n s , g ov e r n m e n t i n s t i t u t i o n s , a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l p a r t n e rs . I nv e s t m e n t i n r e fo r e s t a t i o n a n d c o n s e r va t i o n , s u s t a i n a bl e m i n i n g p r a c t i c e s , f l o o d i
Epstein’s bir thday book and the girls with no names
Britain must help establish a Palestinian state
to recount childhoods filled with beatings, molestation and rape Then, when it was revealed that France’s former prime minister had been involved in covering up the scandal I watched dismayed as words like violence and abuse slowly disappeared from the coverage only to be replaced with terms such as political scandal and parliamentary inquiry When one of the survivors compiled a book filled with dozens of testimonies from survivors, news reports immediately zeroed in on a single one: the former PM’s own daughter, whose abuse at the school was then used as political fodder in the efforts to try and bring down her father These events came to my mind last week after the release of Jeffrey Epstein s birthday book Instead of reckoning with the decades of abuse meticulously catalogued through the book s 238 pages, the discourse had zeroed in on one cartoonish doodle of a headless, pubescent woman, whose pubic hair looks a lot like Donald Trump’s signature Suddenly, everyone seemed to have become a forensic handwriting expert analysing as Jimmy Kimmel deplorably put it Donald’s “long D” What might his alleged contribution mean for his presidential career? One by one opinion pieces have appeared about the book s impact on the professional survival of numerous influential men articles which invariably fail to even mention the word girl
In all the noise about its (in)famous signatories, we lost sight of what the birthday book actually is It is not a meme or a punchline or a political prop but an artefact of the misogyny and abuse that very real girls now women lived through The First Fifty Years albums a set of three tomes curated by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 to celebrate the milestone birthday of her onetime lover and fellow convicted child-sex offender, Epstein read like a frat-boy yearbook replete with sexist injokes and ghoulish photographs Bradley Edwards, the attorney representing Epstein’s victims said that “it should be set in the Smithsonian as an artefact of this time ” The book is damning a catalogue of lewd innuendo from the world s most powerful men immortalised in leather as if misogyny were a collectible The book must certainly be preserved (and used) as evidence, but we cannot let it become mere spectacle Every entry we coopt to bring down a man’s career risks replicating Epstein’s modus operandi:
nude Epstein on a sunbed He is being massaged by four different topless young women while a plane presumably the infamous Lolita Express as his private jet was known flies overhead When I saw that picture explained survivor Jess Michaels on CNN last Tuesday, all that put me right back there to what happened next What happened next after the massage was rape And we knew this long before the drawing began popping up on our newsfeeds The victims had already told us about all of it
This is the central cruelty of the birthday book Yes it embarrasses its signatories but most of them have already said they didn t remember signing it, or that they meant it as a joke, or that the whole thing is a Democrat hoax The ones who the book really harms are Epstein’s victims The girls with no names the ones whose faces are redacted in the files are the real story They were real live teenagers who thought they were meeting a talent scout who accepted a cash favour from a classmate who boarded a private jet without understanding it was a trap If we focus on the signatories of the birthday book rather than its victims it becomes another artefact of erasure, not of accountability
Survivors are being asked to live through the same cycle again: testimony, dismissal, spectacle, silence In an interview earlier in September Jena-Lisa Jones described the exhaustion of being repeatedly forced into the spotlight: “We’ve been having to do interviews like this to get our voices out there because they didn t just listen the first time we said it Yet again, survivors face triggers and scrutiny only to be drowned out by the whir of partisan scandal, or, in one chillingly literal example, by a military flyover during the survivors’ gathering in Washington last week Mid-speech, US Air Force jets thundered overhead drowning out their voices The official explanation was that it was a tribute to a fallen pilot But the symbolism was hard to miss: women opening their mouths to tell the truth; the state silencing them with a show of virility This is the choreography America prefers Survivors speak, planes fly overhead, cameras pan back to the famous men explaining away their contributions to this gift for Epstein’s birthday, and, more importantly the maintenance of a culture of systemic abuse What should we do with this obscene book? Keep it yes Analyse it as a case study in the violence inherent in misogynyas-humour Place it next to the Access Hollywood tape in the museum of patriarchal impunity Just don t mistake its publication for any form of justice Don t confuse gawking at men s lurid fantasies, at jokes told at the expense of survivors, with listening to those survivors “We are not the footnotes in some infamous predator ’s tabloid article ” Jess Michaels said in Washington last week We are the experts and the subjects of this story Another survivor Haley Robson made a request: I would like Donald J Trump and every person in America and around the world to humanise us, to see us for who we are and to hear us for what we have to say The lesson of the birthday book is not that Trump can’t draw or that Clinton wrote a syrupy note or that Peter Mandelson was careless enough to leave behind a record of his complicity The lesson is this: that political theatre is still more compelling to us than listening to women Diane de Vignemont is a historian-turned-journalist based in Paris
Sof
Iraq’s Turkmen gas deal collapses under US pressure
Xinjiang
white paper Xinjiang has seen comprehensive improements in infrastructure said the white paper noting that the operating mileage of railways and the highway network totaled 9,202 kilometers and 230,000 kilometers respectively, as of 2024, and the number of civil air routes reached 595, of which 25 are international routes
Leveraging its
CM MARYAM L AUNCHES E-BUS PROJECT IN SARGODHA , UNVEILS MA JOR WELFARE INITIATIVES
Chief of Naval Staff inaugurates new building of Dental College and Hospital at Bahria Universit y KARACHI s
FBR
Media Secretar y Elevated to Grade 19
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf inaugurated the newly constructed building of Bahria University Dental College and Hospital at Bahria University Health Sciences Campus Karachi The ceremony marked a major milestone in the institution s pursuit of excellence in healthcare and education Addressing the ceremony, the Naval Chief expressed deep satisfaction over the
bring together policymakers, regulators, healthcare professionals, industry leaders, patient advocates, and civil society representatives to address the most pressing issues in Pakistan s healthcare system Speaking about the importance of the summit Kaukab Iqbal Chairman of CAP stated:> The Pakistan Health Care Summit
Policy Dialogue & Reform – A national platform for reviewing policies, identifying gaps
PDMA DECL ARES ‘DEADLIEST’ MONSOON OVER AS PUNJAB HARDEST HIT WITH 300 DEATHS
Tcrops have been inundated in Punjab Kathia said The floods also claimed the lives of 1,779 animals, with 824 still missing, though authorities had managed to relocate over 2 million livestock to safer areas A digital survey, beginning September 24, will assess crop, livestock, structural, and human losses for compensation Rescue and Relief Kathia credited rescue agencies for saving 2 4 million people during peak flooding, including 37,000 boat trips carried out by Punjab s Rescue 1122 and the Pakistan Army Infrastructure too was badly hit The M5 Motorway linking Multan with other parts of Punjab saw a 22-kilometre stretch between Jalalpur Pirwala and Jhangra submerged with 73 culverts coming under stress, five of which were damaged The water is receding gradually, Kathia said, adding that repair work was ongoing with support from the National Highway Authority and federal agencies Climate Challenge Experts note that Pakistan though responsible for just 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, remains among the countries most severely affected by climate change The 2025 floods have drawn comparisons with the catastrophic 2022 deluge which killed 1 700 people affected 33 million and caused more than $30 billion in economic damage
RAWALPINDI
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Friday dismissed a plea seeking the in-person appearance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in the General Headquarters (GHQ) attack case linked to the May 9 violent protests Judge Amjad Ali Shah, who heard the matter, ruled that Khan would continue to appear via video link “As per the Punjab government notification the PTI founding chairman will appear through video link only the judge remarked The development came two days after the Punjab government cancelled the jail trial of all May 9 cases, including the GHQ attack case and withdrew its earlier notification Under the revised order Imran Khan will attend proceedings virtually while the remaining accused will appear physically before the court
During Friday’s proceedings, Khan connected via video link after three attempts Initially the court was informed at 10:30am that he would appear at 11am; he eventually joined at 11:25am Khan s counsel, Faisal Malik, requested a private conversation with his client, which the court allowed However the PTI founder began a
political discussion instead of focusing on legal matters Counsel Malik informed him that the video link notification was being challenged in the high court and sought instructions for the day’s hearing “We are challenging the video link notification in the high court counsel told the court before announcing a boycott of the proceedings Despite the boycott, the ATC continued hearing and recorded the testimonies of two prosecution witnesses Sub-Inspector Saleem Qureshi and Sub-Inspector Manzoor Shehzad The court then adjourned the case until September 23 summoning 10 more witnesses from the FIA, PEMRA, PID, Internal Security, and the Ministry of Interior GHQ attack case In December 2024 PTI founder Imran Khan and dozens of party workers were indicted in the
GHQ attack case arising from the May 9 protests More than 143 individuals, including Khan, were named as accused, while 23 others among them Zulfi Bukhari, Shahbaz Gill and Murad Saeed were declared fugitives All accused have also been barred from travelling abroad
At least 70 PTI leaders were charged with planning the May 9 events and inciting supporters to attack military and government installations after the arrest of Khan by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the £190 million settlement case
The May 9 riots saw violent demonstrations across the country, with PTI workers and leaders accused of targeting civil and military facilities including the Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi
g COURT RULES CCP'S DECISION AND APPELLATE ORDER UNLAWFUL, ALLOWING NEW PROCEEDINGS
PR OFIT staff report
The Supreme Court has annulled a Rs44 billion fine imposed by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on the country s sugar mills, ruling that both the original decision and the subsequent appellate order were unlawful
According to media reports the decision came from a division bench comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Aamer Farooq, who set aside the May 21, 2025 ruling of the Competition Appellate Tribunal and the CCP’s August 13 2021 casting vote decision The dispute began in November 2020, when the CCP issued
show-cause notices to the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) and sugar mills nationwide accusing them of violating Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010 which prohibits cartel-like behaviour
A four-member CCP panel heard the case, but the decision was split evenly in August 2021 Two panel members, including thenchairperson Rahat Kaunain Hassan found the mills guilty while two others called for a fresh inquiry Hassan cast a deciding vote in favour of her opinion, which led to the imposition of the multibillion-rupee fine, a move that triggered controversy
The sugar mills challenged this decision before the Competi-
tion Appellate Tribunal, which in May 2025 ordered a new hearing by a member who had not signed any of the earlier opinions
The mills argued before the Supreme Court that the tribunal s directive violated the Competition Act and its own rules The bench agreed with the mills position, striking down both the tribunal’s order and the CCP’s casting-vote decision
While the fine was annulled the Court left the CCP free to initiate fresh proceedings based on the original 2020 notices Counsels Abdul Sattar Pirzada, Shehzad Atta Elahi, and Sikandar Bashir Mohmand represented the sugar mills while the CCP was represented by Asma Hamid
