With the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s landmark decision on the Indus Waters Treaty, two questions arise: first, what is the significance of this decision? Second, what implications will it carry? Pakistan’s position was clear. Under Article 26 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, no bilateral agreement can be suspended unilaterally. The […]
Verdict
Historic Verdict
A Karachi court, on Friday, in unusually direct language, described a crime that Pakistan prefers to overlook, when it convicted a man under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act for sending a woman’s sexually explicit videos to her in-laws, sentenced him to three years on three counts to run concurrently, imposed fines and ordered compensation, […]
An Overturned Verdict
The Supreme Court’s recent reclassification of a rape conviction as one of consensual intercourse under Section 496-B of the Pakistan Penal Code has raised concerns across legal and rights circles. A sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment was reduced to five, not on fresh evidence, but on reasoning that drew on delayed reporting, the absence of […]
Supreme Court Rape Conviction Ruling Sparks Criticism
The Supreme Court’s recent rape conviction ruling has triggered strong criticism. The National Commission on the Status of Women raised serious concerns. The verdict converted a rape conviction into a fornication charge. The NCSW said courts ignored prosecution evidence and earlier findings. It warned that consent cannot be assumed from silence or reporting delays. The […]
IMF’s Verdict
Pakistan is once again at the centre of an economic debate, but this time the argument has shifted fundamentally. For decades, economists, governments, and the international development community have diagnosed Pakistan’s crisis as a function of debt, inflation, fiscal deficits, political instability, and global shocks. Each downturn brings the same policy responses: new borrowing, subsidy […]
Bangladesh to announce verdict in Hasina crimes against humanity trial
DHAKA: Bangladeshi judges are set to deliver the verdict in the high-profile crimes against humanity trial of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on November 17, the chief prosecutor announced Thursday. Hasina, 78, has remained in India and defied court orders to return for the trial, which accuses her of ordering a deadly crackdown on a […]
IHC reserves verdict regarding local body elections
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday reserved its decision on a petition seeking early local government elections in the Federal Capital. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani reserved the decision after hearing the arguments of the parties. During the hearing, Justice Kayani remarked that the system has been wrecked due to the lack of local government […]
Why 4-3 verdict changed to 3-2, Maryam asks SC
According to PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, it would be resolved why the Supreme Court’s March 1 decision was amended from a 4-3 to a 3-2 in favor of the elections before ruling on the elections to two provincial assemblies. Maryam made these remarks on the same day that the Supreme Court was deliberating […]
Toshakhana case: Court to announce verdict on Dec 15
A district and sessions court in Islamabad Monday reserved the verdict on a plea filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Toshakhana case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. The verdict will be announced on December 15 at 2pm. The case was heard by Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal. On November […]
SC verdict on article 63 (A): Dissident MPs cannot cast vote
ISLAMABAD: The SC has announced its verdict on the interpretation of Article 63 (A), the dissident members of the Parliament (MPs) cannot cast their votes against their parliamentary party’s directives. The decision was made with a majority of 3-2, Justice Jamal Mandokhel and Justice Nazeer Alam dissented from the decision. The Chief Justice said that […]