Pakistan SC suspends former Finance Minister's Senate membership
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Islamabad, May 8: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the Senate membership of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after he failed to appear before it on a petition contesting his election to the Upper House.
The apex court had summoned Dar, who has been in London since October 2017 and was declared an absconder by an accountability court in a corruption reference, on May 8 in a petition challenging his election to the Senate, Dawn online reported.
The court order came while hearing the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Nawazish Ali Pirzada -- who had received 12 votes as a Senate candidate on a seat reserved for technocrats from Punjab against Dar's 155.
Dar's lawyer informed the court that he was unwell and unable to appear before the court. However, Justice Ijazul Ahsan rejected the former minister's medical report, saying: "Whenever we talk about his court appearance he becomes ill but looks good on TV."
The hearing was adjourned till Eid-ul-Fitr after Chief Justice Saqib Nisar announced that he was going abroad for two weeks.
According to the medical report submitted in the court on Monday, Dar has been suffering from left arm and chest pains resulting from a spinal issue in his neck and may require surgery if his condition does not improve within a month.
The report issued by the London Neurosurgery Partnership and dated April 26, also stated that Dar has also had cardiac issues and had to undergo an emergency stent implant in the past.
Former Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani and Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq expressed their reservations at the court's decision to suspend Dar's Senate membership.
Haq said he was "astonished that the apex court had taken the decision despite being provided with medical reports".
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Ajit Pawar wins Baramati battle, defeats nephew Yugendra by more than 1 lakh votes
Baramati, Nov 23: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Ajit Pawar on Saturday won from his traditional Baramati assembly constituency by defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar by more than one lakh votes.
Ajit, who parted ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar last year and was seeking an eighth term from this family bastion in Pune district, polled 1,81,132 votes while Yugendra Pawar polled 80,233 votes.
Ajit, thus, defeated his younger brother's son by 1,00,899 votes.
Five months ago, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had triumphed in Baramati in the Lok Sabha elections, with incumbent MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule defeating Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes.
Both the NCP factions did not leave a single stone unturned during the assembly campaign, and even Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revati were seen campaigning for Yugendra, while Ajit Pawar brought his mother on stage during his concluding rally in Baramati.
While Sharad Pawar told the people of Baramati that they needed a new leadership, alluding to Yugendra Pawar whom he described as a highly-educated candidate, Ajit Pawar cautioned people not to fall prey to the "emotional pitch" by the senior Pawar.
After Saturday's results, Ajit Pawar, who along with several other NCP legislators sided with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023, could claim to be the real political heir of his estranged uncle who founded the NCP in 1999.
Sunetra Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member, thanked the people of Baramati for reposing their faith once again in `Dada' (elder brother in Marathi, as Ajit is fondly called).
