Ali Uzair Bhandari

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[Ali Uzair Bhandari @aubhandari]

Over the past few months, our Supreme Court has remained a silent spectator as our basic fundamental rights have been trampled upon with impunity. That is perhaps the strongest argument against existence of suo moto power.

My case against the suo moto:
https://t.co/MXp3sA7pd2

[Benazir Shah @Benazir_Shah]

In today’s hearing at the LHC on petitions challenging the Punjab defamation law, lawyer Rida Hosain argued against provisions in the law that allow constitutional officeholders to file defamation cases against citizens.

She said the law flips the balance of power, stressing that a higher threshold should apply when public officials bring defamation claims.

Instead, she noted, the Punjab law makes it easier for them to do so.

Hosain explained that this higher threshold exists because public officials have greater access to communication tools to defend themselves.

“Any law that limits a person’s or a journalist’s ability to hold those in power accountable or question them goes against the principles of democracy,” she said.

She also cited international examples, including Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, which was dismissed after the court found he had not proven “actual malice.”

Hosain argued that a similar standard should apply in Pakistan, requiring proof of actual malice before a public officeholder can take a journalist or citizen to court.

[PTI @PTIofficial]

سپریم کورٹ میں اپیل دائر کرنے کے لئے عمران خان کے قانونی دستاویزات پر دستخط کے حصول کے لئے آج پھر وکیل عمران خان @KhalidYChaudry اڈیالہ جیل پہنچے ہیں۔
دستاویزات بذریعہ ڈاک بھیجوا دیئے گئے تھے کیونکہ گیٹ پر جیل حکام وصول نہیں کر رہے تھے۔

[Rida Hosain @RidaHosain]

60 days of Imaan and Hadi’s unjust incarceration.

Punishing human rights defenders means silencing countless voices that rely on fearless advocates to get heard - from families of the forcibly disappeared to the most vulnerable sections of society.

#ReleaseImaanAndHadi

[Asad Rahim Khan @AsadRahim]

Imaan and Hadi’s arrests mean that anyone with the courage to stand up for Pakistan’s most vulnerable will be persecuted and silenced; that any rights – for anyone – can be extinguished overnight.

Please raise your voices.

[Asad Rahim Khan @AsadRahim]

Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza was one of the Lahore High Court’s finest judges: decisive, fair, clean – untouched by grandstanding or controversy.

By making integrity a disqualification, the 27th amendment can only serve regime clowns (them too only while they cling on).

[Ali Uzair Bhandari @aubhandari]

Considering the actual purpose of the 27th Amendment, the perfect man for the job. Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, now the most powerful judge in the country, no matter what CJ Yahya Afridi’s title says.

[Ammar Khan @rogueonomist]

Tax Policy in PK

- Why are you taking risk, creating jobs, and operating formally? Pay an effective tax rate of 39%+.

- So you want to export? lmao get an export license. You want to import? You can get a giraffe for your garden without a license.

- Why are you saving formally in a bank account? Pay a tax on your profit, and another additional tax on your profit because you are too rich. Why bother with saving formally, when we have one of the lowest Investment-GDP ratios in the world. Haha weirdo.

- You want to buy gold? How much? Zero tax, delivery at home, cash payment -- faster than foodpanda. Stupid people taking risks et al.

- You stay out of the system, pay in cash, invest in real estate, do not create jobs, do not create exports -- you have the lowest effective tax rate, and you are darling of the state.

ngmi

[Barrister Abuzar Salman Niazi @SalmanKNiazi1]

From delayed justice to arbitrary benches, the Lahore High Court’s decline under Justice Aliya Neelum raises troubling questions. My latest critique published in https://t.co/UUS92qJ68S

[Ali Uzair Bhandari @aubhandari]

In both his judgments issued this week (one validating court martial of civilians and the other validating the transfer of judges to the IHC), Mazhar J has relied on the maxim “salus populi suprema lex”. This is what CJ Munir relied on to introduce the doctrine of necessity

[Faiza Murad @fayezasays]

لاہور ہائی کورٹ میں زیر سماعت میرے سسر بریگیڈیئر (ر) جاوید اکرم کے کیس میں ایک بہت بڑی پیش رفت سامنے آئی ہے۔ آئی جی جیل خانہ جات اور سپرنٹنڈنٹ جیل نے عدالت میں اس حقیقت کی تصدیق کی ہے کہ فوجی عدالتوں سے سزا پانے والے ان قیدیوں کے خلاف ان کے پاس بھی کوئی آرڈر موجود نہیں اور نہ ہی کسی فیصلے کی کاپی ریکارڈ پر ہے۔ یہ اعتراف اس بات کا ثبوت ہے کہ ان بے گناہوں کو محض ایک کرنل کے حکم پر جیلوں کے حوالے کیا گیا۔ نہ کوئی آرڈر کی کاپی ، نہ کوئی تحریری دستاویز ، بس سالوں کی سزا کاٹنے کے لیے اندھا دھند قید!

اپیل کا حق تو بعد کی بات ہے، فی الحال تو یہ بھی نہیں پتا کہ کس بنیاد پر یہ برسوں کی سزائیں سنائی گئیں!

#خاموش_صدائیں
#ہمیں_اپیل_کا_حق_دو
#khamosh_sadayen

[Asad Rahim Khan @AsadRahim]

Mazhar J also spends 4 pages on the importance of precedent and 'honoring the decision of prior cases' – soon after setting aside his own signed-off opinion in the res. seats matter (that too in review).

Says judicial review merits larger bench (again, seats review was smaller)

[Ali Uzair Bhandari @aubhandari]

Military court convicts are yet to receive the orders of their conviction. The govt has refused to provide them a right of appeal despite a clear direction by the Supreme Court. And yet these honourable judges see no violations of fair trial standards and procedural safeguards.

[Hasnaat Malik @HasnaatMalik]

Despite showing serious concerns by EU & others, Supreme Court of Pakistan held that the conduct of civilians trials under the Army Act, where exercised within the statutory limits and supported by procedural safeguards, does not violate fair trial standards.

[Faiza Murad @fayezasays]

جسٹس مظہر علی کا یو ٹرن۔
جسٹس منصور علی شاہ نے کہا تھا کہ پریکٹس اینڈ پروسیجر ایکٹ کی اپیل کی شق سبسٹینٹو نہیں بلکہ صرف پروسیجرل ہے اور جسٹس مظہر علی نے بھی اس پر دستخط کیے تھے۔ مگر آج وہی مظہر علی اُلٹی بات کر رہے ہیں، صرف اس لیے کہ سویلینز کے فوجی ٹرائل کو جائز ٹھہرایا جا سکے۔

#ہمیں_اپیل_کا_حق_دو
#خاموش_صدائیں
#khamosh_sadayen

[Ali Uzair Bhandari @aubhandari]

Shah J’s opinion was signed by 10 judges out of 15 and was a decision of the full court. The 7-member ICA bench in the military courts appeal was thus bound by it. Mazhar J could not have taken a contrary view, especially since he had signed off on it.

[Ali Uzair Bhandari @aubhandari]

Mansoor Ali Shah J upheld the appeal provision of the Practice and Procedure Act holding that it is not a substantive provision but a procedural one. Mazhar J signed onto this opinion. Today, he has taken the exact opposite view in order to validate military trials of civilians

[Abdul Moiz Jaferii @Jaferii]

If anyone asks you about the rule of law in this country, all you have to do is show them this photo.

They might then ask you what got us here.

There’s a long answer and short one to that question.

The short answer is

Qazi faez isa.

[Ehtsham Kiani @ehtshamkiani]

اہم ترین: جسٹس طارق محمود جہانگیری نے استعفے کے سوال پر جواب دیا ہے کہ "استعفیٰ دینے کا تو سوال ہی پیدا نہیں ہوتا، ہم لڑیں گے".

[Jasir Shahbaz @LahoreMarquez]

Yehi chiraagh jalaingay tu ujaala hoga. Hats off to his parents who are raising him with such great values

[Sheikh Waqas Akram @SheikhWaqqas]

Imran Khan’s nephew and Aleema Khanam’s son Shahrez Khan, an Oxford graduate, non-political and international sports star, was going to represent Pakistan in just a few days has been abducted illegally. His only “crime” is being related to Imran Khan. Silencing families, crushing talent, destroying futures, this is the Pakistan they are handing to you.
Shame on this system.

[PTI @PTIofficial]

Footage of the attack at Aleema Khan’s house in which Asim Munir’s illegal regime has abducted Shahrez Khan (Aleema Khan’s son)

Shahrez is Pakistan’s top Ironman athlete , the nation’s #1 and only the second Pakistani triathlete ever to qualify for the World Championship.

This lawlessness under Asim Munir’s unconstitutional regime shows how far they are willing to go in their lust for power : destroying families, institutions, and Pakistan’s future.