Pak high court bars PM Imran's close aide from working as PTV chairman
Islamabad: In an embarrassment to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the high court here on Thursday restrained one of his close associates from working as the chairman of state-run Pakistan Television (PTV).
Supreme Court lawyer, politician, and former TV host Naeem Bukhari was appointed as chief of the state broadcaster in November last year, inviting criticism for getting benefit from his closeness to Khan.
Arsalan Farrukh had challenged the appointment in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), arguing that the appointment was done in violation of various verdicts of the superior courts.
A single bench led by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, after hearing arguments, said in his decision that the appointment was in violation of a 2018 Supreme Court order in a similar case.
Justice Minallah remarked that the cabinet did not make a clear decision on relaxing the age limit for 65-year-old Bukhari.
"By omitting it, you are embarrassing the federal cabinet as well," the judge told a government representative.
He directed the ministry to place a revised summary before the federal cabinet for review of the previous decision and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
The Supreme Court in Ataul Haq Qasmi's appointment case had ordered the federal government to appoint a full-time managing director of PTV after fulfilling all legal, procedural, and codal formalities strictly in accordance with the law.
The petitioner while challenging Bukhari's appointment pointed out that contrary to the direction of the apex court, the vacancy had not been advertised in the press and the appointment was made without inviting applications for the vacant position.
He said the federal cabinet had relaxed the upper age limit for Bukhari, without mentioning plausible reasons in the minutes of the federal cabinet meeting.
Bukhari successfully defended Khan in 2017 in a famous case seeking his disqualification from public office for failing to show the source of income for buying an estate in the suburbs of Islamabad.
Bukhari, who led the legal team of Khan in the Panama Papers leak case, was appointed the PTV chairman in November last year.
Interestingly, the appointment was made in apparent haste as the federal cabinet had in its meeting considered a summary for his appointment but did not endorse his induction as PTV chairman.
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In biggest haul, drugs worth Rs 51 cr seized in Meghalaya, 2 held
Shillong (PTI): The Meghalaya Police seized drugs worth over Rs 51 crore, the biggest haul of narcotics in the state so far, in East Jaintia Hills district and arrested two Mizoram-based persons in this connection, a senior officer said on Saturday.
The seizure was made during a coordinated naka-checking conducted by the police and Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) personnel in the Ratacherra area on Friday, he said.
During the operation, a vehicle with three persons, including the driver, on board was intercepted and searched in accordance with due legal procedures.
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Upon checking, 19 plastic soap cases, containing suspected heroin weighing 203.7 grams, were recovered from the possession of one of the three persons, the officer said.
The search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a blue-coloured trolley bag belonging to another occupant of the vehicle.
Suspected crystal meth (methamphetamine) tablets weighing 10.145 kilograms were found in the bag, the police officer said.
'Meth' tablets are banned in India.
Two of the three occupants of the vehicle were arrested, and a preliminary investigation suggested that they are part of an interstate and cross-border drug trafficking syndicate, the officer said.
"The total value of the seized contraband is estimated to be around Rs 51.13 crore", ANTF chief Vikash Kumar told PTI.
The arrested persons hail from Mizoram, he said.
A case has been registered at the ANTF police station, and an investigation is underway to establish the forward and backward linkages related to the seizure, the officer added.
