Former DPO Waqar Chauhan to appear in court

SIALKOT: The former District Police Officer Sialkot, Waqar Chauhan was arrested on Tuesday and is expected to appear in court tomorrow in connection to the Sialkot lynching case.

Five other police officials will also be presented in court along with the former DPO. However, prime accused in the lynching of two brothers, SHO Rana Ilyas, has managed to evade custody along with one other police officer involved in the brutal killing.

Earlier, Justice (retd) Kazim Malik, who was given the task to conduct an inquiry into the lynching stated that the Supreme Court would start its hearing of the case on September 1. Justice Kazim added that statements of 101 people, who were directly or indirectly linked to the case, have been recorded. He added that it would be upto the apex court to decide on whether they want to make the report public or not.

Order to block nine websites with blasphemous material

LAHORE: A Pakistani court has ordered the authorities to block access to nine websites including Google, Yahoo and YouTube for allegedly offending Muslims with blasphemous material.Judge Mazhar Iqbal ordered Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority to block the websites due to “material against the fundamental principals of Islam and its preaching,” according to a copy of the judgement obtained by AFP.

Pakistan shut off Facebook for nearly two weeks last month in a storm of controversy about a competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad and has restricted access to hundreds of online links because of blasphemy.

Iqbal announced a short version of the order in the eastern city of Bahawalpur on Tuesday and released a written detailed order on Wednesday, lawyer Latifur Rehman who brought the petition for the ban, told AFP.

Court extends Hamesh Khan remand

LAHORE: An accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday extended the physical remand of the  prime accused in the Bank Of Punjab Fraud case Hamesh Khan, for another 14 days.

Hamesh Khan was presented before the court under strict security arrangements.

Khan’s lawyer said his client’s remand has stretched to five weeks now, but NAB has so far been unable to provide evidence that would prove him guilty.

On the other hand, advocates for NAB informed the court of several positive developments in the case and the unearthing of other scandals associated to the Bank of Punjab.

‘I restored the judges’ says Gilani

BRUSSELS: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said that the judges of the superior court were restored through his executive order and not the long march.

He recalled that it was he who gave the order to release the judges from the jail. Gilani was addressing a large Pakistani community at a local hotel in Brussels on Thursday.

He said the democratic system was here to stay and get stronger, and all such conspiracies would be foiled.

Govt lawyer Abdul Basit resigns

ISLAMABAD: Federation lawyer Abdul Basit on Tuesday voluntarily offered his resignation from his contract with the government to plead its case in the Supreme Court, reports said. Abdul Basit is therefore no longer the government’s counsel.

According to sources, after Tuesday’s court proceedings, Abdul Basit received a call from the Law Ministry, after which, he decided to resign from his position.

LHC lifts ban on Facebook

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) lifted the ban on social networking website Facebook on Monday.

During today’s proceedings, the court demanded gaurantees that such content will not be accessible to users in Pakistan. The court observed that the act would be treated as contempt of court if it is repeated again.

Meanwhile, deputy attorney general and PTA representative assured the court it would not happen again.

Fake degrees continue to pile up

The Lahore High Court (LHC) disqualified PML-N MPA Rizwan Naurez Gill from Sargodha on Friday for taking part in elections with a fake bachelors degree.

A petition challenging Gill’s eligibility was filed in the court by Dr Nadia Aziz, a former MPA of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).