Indian Lt Gen PK Rath Punished

Breaking News NEW DELHI: Lieutenant General P.K. Rath, who was found guilty in the Sukhna land scam by an Army Court in New Delhi, was on Saturday handed down a sentence including a two-year seniority loss and forfeiture of 15 years of service for pension purposes.

Lieutenant General Rath was found guilty on three counts — firstly for providing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the construction of the building next to the Army headquarters in Sukna, secondly for signing a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with the private builder and thirdly for not informing the Eastern Command headquarters while the process was being carried on by him.

“To take rank and precedence as if appointment as substantiating the Lieutenant General bore dated May 24, 2010, forfeiture of 15 years service for pensionary benefits and severely reprimand,” General Court Martial (GCM) Presiding Officer Lieutenant General I.J. Singh said in his verdict.

This verdict will now have to be confirmed by the Army Chief and the Defence Ministry.

The land scam came into the open in mid-2008 and the names of Lieutenant General Rath and Lieutenant General Avadhesh Prakash figured among the senior army officers who influenced the decision to issue the NOC to a Siliguri-based private builder to construct an educational institution on a 70-acre land adjacent to the Sukna military station in Darjeeling.

The private builder had floated a trust – Agarwal Geetanjali Education Trust – to set up an affiliate school of the prestigious Mayo College in the area.

Salman Butt Might Gets Seven Year Ban on Him In Spot Fixing Scandal

Ousted Israel MP vows to work for peace coalition

JERUSALEM: An influential Israeli opposition lawmaker lost his seat in parliament after an eight-year trial on Tuesday but he said he was determined to pursue efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians.

Tzachi Hanegbi, a senior member of the centrist Kadima party but also a confidant of Likud prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was convicted of perjury in July.

An additional court ruling on Tuesday said this verdict amounted to “moral turpitude”. Under Israeli law, this meant that he automatically had to step down from public office.

Hanegbi was often seen as the man most likely to help Netanyahu create a broad government of national unity, a step that many political analysts believe is needed if Israel is going to strike a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Rumours about the creation of such a coalition often bubble up in the Israeli media and

Sri Lanka appeal over death-row maid in Saudi Arabia

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has appealed for the king of Saudi Arabia to spare the life of a Sri Lankan housemaid convicted of killing an infant, his office said Tuesday.

Rizana Nafeek, who was working in the Middle Eastern country, was found guilty of killing a four-month-old baby boy in her care in 2005.

The Saudi Supreme Court recently rejected an appeal against the verdict by the maid’s family.

“President Mahinda Rajapakse wrote to King Abdullah … of Saudi Arabia seeking clemency for Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek,” his office said in a statement.

Nafeek, who was 17 at that time, has maintained that the death of the infant was an accident.

She originally confessed to killing the baby, but later retracted her statement saying it had been made under duress.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission in a

Hamza terms Zardari as suicide bomber

Leader of PML-N Hamza Shahbaz Sharif has blamed the President that he is a suicider, wearing a suicide jacket. Now its our duty to dispose off the jacket that he is wearing. Opining about the verdict of the Supreme Court on the 18th amendment, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif welcomed the deision and said that now surely parliament should also take the judiciary along with it.
Earlier talking to Dunya News about the flood-affectees, Hamza Shahbaz said that every party and group has opened a relief camp of its own. He said that the recent deluge is a national crisis and should be resolved on a national basis and for this a nationla commission should be formed.

Hamza blames Zardari to be suicider

Leader of PML-N Hamza Shahbaz Sharif has blamed the President that he is a suicider, wearing a suicide jacket. Now its our duty to dispose off the jacket that he is wearing. Opining about the verdict of the Supreme Court on the 18th amendment, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif welcomed the deision and said that now surely parliament should also take the judiciary along with it.
Earlier talking to Dunya News about the flood-affectees, Hamza Shahbaz said that every party and group has opened a relief camp of its own. He said that the recent deluge is a national crisis and should be resolved on a national basis and for this a nationla commission should be formed.

18th amend: SC directs Parliament to review Article 175-A

In its most-awaited ruling, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Parliament to review Article 175-A, pertaining to judges appointment to the superior courts, for its being detrimental for judiciarys freedom.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry announced the Supreme Court’s verdict on the petitions challenging certain clauses of the 18th Amendment.
Parliament is asked to review Article 175-A, for it has harmed judiciarys freedom, the CJ stated. The CJ, however, allowed veto power to the Judicial Committee, and added that Both Parliament and the Judiciary are indispensable to each other and both should work to uphold the rule of law. Article175-A of the Constitution will be sent back to the Parliament, according to the verdict.
It should be mentioned here that Article 175A of the Constitution deals with the appointment of judges of the higher judiciary.
The ruling also dictates that under Article-68 of the Constitution, the behavior of judges of higher judiciary could not be brought under discussion at the Parliament.
The court has been adjourned till January 2011.
The Supreme Court had started hearing of the case on May 24 and it took four months on the part of both sides to complete the arguments. The hearing continued continued with brief intervals for more than four months. A larger bench had concluded the hearing of the case on September 30 and reserved its judgment.Around 20 petitions were filed in the SC challenging the amendment. However, most of the petitioners challenged the new procedure of appointment of judges in the superior and lower courts, under the amended Article 175-A of the Constitution.The first petition was filed by Nadeem Ahmed Advocate through his counsel Akram Sheikh. The second petition was filed by the District Bar Association Rawalpindi through Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, who is also a candidate in the upcoming Supreme Court Bar elections. The third petition was filed by the Wattan Party through its chairman Barrister Zafar Ullah Khan. The fourth one was filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association through Hamid Khan and the fifth by the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Zia Ijaz-ul-Haq. The PML-Z chief mainly objected to article 63-A of the Constitution, which empowers a party leader to disqualify a party member from his membership to the parliament, even if he is not an elected representative.J Salik, representing the minorities through his counsel Zulfiqar Bhutta, also filed a petition and challenged the amendment regarding the rights granted to minorities in the Constitution.Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment on petitions seeking to strike down certain provisions of the 18th amendment, especially those dealing with the appointment of top judges. The chief justice had said the verdict would be announced at some appropriate time later.

Sh Rasheed urged Govt to accept SC’s authority
Chief of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, while talking to Dunya News, said that the government has to accept apex courts authority. He however parried more question, saying that nothing could be said till the detailed judgment regarding the 18th amendment.

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.

SC reinstates 294 sacked KESC employees

Staff Report

KARACHI: The Supreme Court has reinstated 294 employees who had been fired by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) on April 19, 2010 for various reasons.

A three-member bench of the apex court announced this verdict in a petition filed by KESC challenging the ruling of Sindh High Court (SHC).

SHC also ordered KESC to reinstate the sacked employees.

On the other hand, a KESC spokesman said that he was not aware of any such ruling by the apex court. SAMAA

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