Hrithik Roshan to host dance show called ‘So You Think You Can Dance’

While the whole world went gaga over Hrithik’s dancing skills ever since his debut film, offers kept on pouring in his kitty to host TV shows, something that he kept on avoiding (read ‘postponing’). And now, the news is that Hrithik has finally given into the temptation.

The big news is that he will soon be hosting a TV dance show called ‘So You Think You Can Dance’. Its also rumored that Hrithik will be paid a whopping Rs. 2 crore to play the host! The news doesn’t stop here. Rumors also have it that the show will have Farah Khan as one of the judges.

With the two dancing masters, viz. Farah and Hrithik on board, we are sure, dancing will only get better with every passing day or maybe episode!

PCO case: Judges established institution within institution

The Supreme Court in its remarks in the contempt of court case against PCO judges said that PCO judges established institution within institution with the help of dictator. While SM Zafar said that judge itself is a court and it cannot be issued contempt of court notice.

A four-member bench under the supervision of Justice Shahid Siddiqi heard the case against PCO judges. In his remarks, Justice Shahid Siddiqi said that the dictator issued an order which was not approved by the Parliament but the judges supported the dictator. He said that institution within institution cannot be set up. The hearing of the case would be held tomorrow again.

Five judges suspended in KP on corruption charges

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: Five additional and sessions judges have been suspended on the allegations of corruption Thursday.

According to the Registrar of Peshawar High Court, five judges have been suspended including the Additional District and Sessions Judges, Syed Asghar Shah, Faqeer-ur-Rehman Jadoon, Shahid Naseem Khan, Sajjad Anwar and Fayaz-ullah.

These judges have been suspended for three months.

Earlier, six other judges of different had been sacked due to corruption charges and other allegations. SAMAA

SC puts off judges’ restitution case sine die

Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of a suo motu notice of news report aired by some private TV channels regarding the reversal of executive order regarding judges’ restoration sine die, Dunya News reported on Monday.
During the course of hearing, Chief Justice Chaudhry asked the AG whether some government official wanted to submit the sought reply, to which the AG replied in negative. No one has desired to submit the reply, the AG told the court.
AG Anwarul Haq assured the court that notices have been issued to Wamiq Zuberi and Fakhar Rehman who would asked to appear before the Committee, set up to investigate the news, on Oct 23.
Justice Javed Iqbal said that Dr Shahid Masood in his programme stated that the PM had even signed the Executive Order reversal notifications and he is also ready to own the revelations.
The AG, however, submitted a report in the court about apprising of all the government departments of the SCs Oct 15 order, which held that any move to reverse the judges restitution orders would be tantamount to treason.
Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday maintained that the court has never said anything that could be viewed as a clash with the government.
The Attorney General sought more time for the submission of written reply by the governmentIn the previous hearing, court directed the Attorney General to get a written confirmation from government and also clarified that no government official could withdraw the judges reinstatement notification.
If anything of such sort happens, it would be tantamount to treason and a serious abrogation of the Constitution, the court maintained.
The court has been deferred sine die.

SC Resumes Hearing of Judges Restoration Notification

News Trends: Supreme Courts 17-member larger bench is hearing the suo moto notice of news about withdrawing the notification regarding restoration of judges.
Some extra ordinary activities were observed in Supreme Court on Thursday evening. All the judges of SC held a one hour long meeting regarding after the news were aired on some sections of media.
After the release of a press release by SC, a 17 member bench of the Supreme Court was constituted on late Thursday night to hear the case of withdrawing the notification order regarding restoration of judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and chief justices/judges of the High Courts.
It was also stated in the press release that Supreme Court has also issued a notice to Attorney General. It also states that executive order of restoration of judges will not be postponed.
The court has given its decision regarding the Sindh High Court Bar case. According to the press release the procedure for appointment and withdrawal of judges is mentioned in the constitution. PM Gilani said that he had taken notice of the issue of withdrawal of notification of judges restoration and such news could widen gulf between the Government and the Judiciary.Terming the reports of media as baseless, the PM said that the Government respected constitutional institutions and PPP always respected the judiciary and gave sacrifices for its independence.

He said that every conspiracy against the Government and Judiciary would be foiled. Elements behind this conspiracy want to destabilize the country but they would not succeed, he added.

In his statement he also said that some elements are trying to create confusions among the institutions but such conspiracies will not be made successful; whereas the government fully respects the judiciary.

Govt to Move Plea Against NRO Implement Ruling Today

ISLAMABAD: A day before the hearing of the NRO implementation case in the Supreme Court tomorrow (Wednesday), the PPP government has now decided to move a new petition before the judges to straightaway challenge the implementation process of the NRO judgment of December 16, 2009.

The new petition, probably to be filed today (Tuesday), is a bid to ease the mounting pressure on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to write a letter to the Swiss authorities against President Asif Ali Zardari.

President Zardari is said to have issued fresh instructions to legal aides in this regard late Monday night after he was briefed about the Supreme Court’s unexpected decision of not allowing the government to bring a new lawyer in place of Kamal Azfar after he was notified as the prime minister’s adviser on disaster management.

After hearing arguments of his legal team, President Zardari is said to have given a go-ahead to his team to file a new petition in the Supreme Court and challenge the process of implementation of the NRO, which threatens the foundation of the PPP government after judges decided to show zero tolerance on the decision not to reopen the Swiss cases against the president.

A source said the real importance of this new development can be judged from the fact that the new review petition might be filed by the PPP government legal team most probably today (Tuesday) — a day before the Supreme Court takes up the NRO implementation case on Wednesday.

The source said the government legal team would also file another petition challenging the decision of the Supreme Court to disallow it to bring a new lawyer to defend its review petition.

The new petition is likely to argue why it is important for the government to bring a new legal team to defend the NRO in its review petition and what are those circumstances, which led to the removal of Kamal Azfar. A long list of arguments has been prepared by the legal team of President Zardari to justify the transfer of Kamal Azfar from the NRO review petition case.

Another source said there was a strong possibility that one of the new members of new legal team may shock even the Supreme Court judges if a final decision is taken by the government by Tuesday to ask him to appear before the court to defend all cases against his ‘friend’ Asif Ali Zardari.

The sources said a top government team remained busy in giving final touches to the new petition challenging the implementation of the NRO judgment to justify as to why the government was not ready to write a letter to the Swiss authorities in line with the earlier direction of the court. The sources said like the judges, now this time the PPP government too had decided to apply a zero tolerance towards the Swiss cases and subsequently use all the available legal and constitutional options to stop the SC from putting pressure on the executive to take steps against the president of Pakistan.

The sources said the PPP government has made up its mind that it will be preferable to go down fighting instead of being seen as dictated by the court and then made to go home or collapse under the burden of the NRO judgment and its implementation. The sources said there was a realisation within the ruling elite that the superior courts would not give them any breathing space, despite the fact the government showed some positive gestures in the past to make the SC judges believe that it was seriously trying to implement the judgment wherever it was possible for the executive. “PM Gilani was not ready to hand over his own president to Swiss authorities as he feared that if he wrote any letter to Swiss authorities, then it would amount to withdrawing the immunity and he would face charges of violation of Article 6, which is punishable with death penalty,” the sources added.

The sources said now the government was once again under pressure because it will be asked the same old question as had the prime minister directed the Law Ministry to write a much disputed letter to the Swiss authorities or not? But the sources said the like the past nine months, this time too, the PPP government does not have any ‘news’ to share with the judges tomorrow (Wednesday).

The sources said in this background, it had been decided to immediately challenge the process of implementation of the NRO and the Supreme Court would be asked to form a larger bench to hear the review petition challenging the implementation of the NRO verdict.

SC warns against withdrawal of reinstatement, seeks reply by Oct 18

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday issued a short order, instructing the top functionaries of the government against taking any action to revoke the earlier notification about restoration of members of the superior judiciary and said that any such move would be tantamount to abrogating the Constitution.
The order was issued by a 17-member bench of the apex court after hearing an unprecedented suo moto notice of news of withdrawing the notification/executive order, dated March 16, 2009, regarding restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, other judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and chief justices/judges of the High Courts.
The court said that the executive order of 16th March 2009, restoring the sacked judges has lost its effectiveness after the 31st July 2009, verdict and heads of all constitutional organs must abide by the judgment. Even though the Attorney-General repeatedly informed the apex court judges that no such move was being contemplated by the government, and the hype was unnecessarily created by a section of the media, the Chief Justice asked for a written assurance by the Prime Minister. When the court reassembled after the break, it was informed by the Attorney-General that the Prime Minister was not available but the message had been conveyed to him through his staff. On that the judges expressed their extreme annoyance, prompting them to issue the restraining order.The government was also asked through this order to come up with a satisfactory reply by October 18. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that he pledged to uphold the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution in the country.
The CJ lamented that whenever the court takes up any important case, rumour mills starts running. Derogatory remarks have been used against the judiciary, but we are showing patience against it, the CJ observed.
Justice Ramday asked the Attorney General to tell the court how the notification could be withdrawn while Justice Javed Iqbal stated that we are as much patriotic as those at the helm. On the other hand, Chairman Supreme Court Bar Association Qazi Anwar stated that judiciary seemed to be on the same position as it was on November 2. He deplored that instead of rooting out the prevalent corruption the rulers are opposing the judiciary and called upon the latter to act sanely in the larger interest of the nation.
Some private TV channel on Thursday alleged that the Government was considering to withdraw the notification/executive order dated March 16, 2009 of restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, other judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and chief justices/judges of the High Courts. Some newspapers have already reported this issue as well. Earlier on, a few months ago, a similar statement was made by one of the high constitutional office holders in the Parliament.As t he news item was flashed by other TV channels, some channels have also telecast denial on Thursday (14.10.2010) from the Government, saying that there was no truth behind the said news.PM Gilani said that he had taken notice of the issue of withdrawal of notification of judges restoration and such news could widen gulf between the Government and the Judiciary.Terming the reports of media as baseless, the PM said that the Government respected constitutional institutions and PPP always respected the judiciary and gave sacrifices for its independence. He said that every conspiracy against the Government and Judiciary would be foiled. Elements behind this conspiracy want to destabilise the country but they cannot be succeeded, he added.

Govt cannot retract Executive Order: Kurd
Former chairman Supreme Court Bar Association Ahmed Ali Kurd has said that the government could not withdraw any Executive Order.
Kurd said that the judiciary and the government seemed to be heading towards a confrontational path; however on the same breath he added that the judiciary should not have sit till late night for deliberation over the news reports.
He ruled out having any clashes with the judiciary, saying that he came from Quetta to submit his report regarding a case.

Executive Order has no legal status: Justice (r) Siddiqui
Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, while talking to Dunya News, said that the Executive Order at which the PM hinted in the National Assembly does not have any legal status for the apex court has struck down the Nov 3 actions thereby depriving the notification of its legality.
He said that the denial by the PM left no room of debate on the issue. He maintained that such news are meant to trigger confusion among the people and that is why the SC sought a written reply in this respect.

Govt indifferent to public issues: Sh Rasheed
Chief of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rasheed has said that the government is trying to detract the people and the judiciary to cover-up the prevailing corruption. He lamented that the country is passing through multiple crises while those at the helm are busy in having clashes with the judiciary.
He enlisted lack of wisdom, competence and indecisiveness on part of the government that led to the problems facing the country. He said that the rulers are indifferent to the public miseries as they are just busy in sorting out their inter-institutional issues.

Govt wants to harass judiciary: Ahsan Iqbal
PML-N senior leader Ahsan Iqbal, while talking on the issue, said that the governments stance to retract the notification is deplorable and aimed at harassing the judges only.
It has been made clear in the 18th amendment that the November 3 decision were illegal and did not have any constitutional status and hence the notification by the PM in this regard also lost any status. The parliament has also ratified the 18th amend. He warned the government against any such action saying that its not Musharrafs Pakistan where the judges were sent packing.

Rule of law, supremacy of Constitution to be maintained: CJP

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Friday observed that he pledged to uphold the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution in the country.
A 17-member bench of the apex court is hearing the suo moto notice of news of withdrawing the notification/executive order, dated March 16, 2009, regarding restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, other judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and chief justices/judges of the High Courts.
The CJ lamented that whenever the court takes up any important case, rumour mills starts running. Derogatory remarks have been used against the judiciary, but we are showing patience against it, the CJ observed. During the hearing, Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq said the news reports to this effect were baseless and should be investigated. However, the apex court directed the Attorney-General to submit a written statement from the government on the matter. The statement should be signed by the chief executive, the court said. Justice Ramday asked the Attorney General to tell the court how the notification could be withdrawn while Justice Javed Iqbal stated that we are as much patriotic as those at the helm. On the other hand, Chairman Supreme Court Bar Association Qazi Anwar stated that judiciary seemed to be on the same position as it was on November 2. He deplored that instead of rooting out the prevalent corruption the rulers are confronting the judiciary and called upon the latter to act sanely in the larger interest of the nation.
Some private TV channel on Thursday alleged that the Government was considering to withdraw the notification/executive order dated March 16, 2009 of restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, other judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and chief justices/judges of the High Courts. Some newspapers have already reported this issue as well. Earlier on, a few months ago, a similar statement was made by one of the high constitutional office holders in the Parliament.As the news item was flashed by other TV channels, some channels have also telecast denial on Thursday (14.10.2010) from the Government, saying that there was no truth behind the said news.PM Gilani said that he had taken notice of the issue of withdrawal of notification of judges restoration and such news could widen gulf between the Government and the Judiciary.Terming the reports of media as baseless, the PM said that the Government respected constitutional institutions and PPP always respected the judiciary and gave sacrifices for its independence. He said that every conspiracy against the Government and Judiciary would be foiled. Elements behind this conspiracy want to destabilise the country but they cannot be succeeded, he added.

Judges mull over 18th Amendment verdict

An important meeting of the judges of the Supreme Court was held today for final consultation over the verdict of 18th Amendment.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry led the meeting which was attended by all the judges of 18th Amendment case. The Supreme Court had reserved the decision after recording the arguments of all sides. However, registrar of the Supreme Court Dr. Hussain didnt tell the agenda of the meeting.

Judges mull over 18th Amendment verdict

An important meeting of the judges of the Supreme Court was held today for final consultation over the verdict of 18th Amendment.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry led the meeting which was attended by all the judges of 18th Amendment case. The Supreme Court had reserved the decision after recording the arguments of all sides. However, registrar of the Supreme Court Dr. Hussain didnt tell the agenda of the meeting.

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