Tendulkar props up India with unbeaten 64

MOHALI: Sachin Tendulkar completed a half-century to boost India on the third day of the opening Test against Australia on Sunday.

The middle-order batsman, the world’s leading run-getter in Tests and one-day internationals, was unbeaten on 64 as India reached 280-4 in their first innings at tea in reply to Australia’s 428.

Suresh Raina was not out on 26 at the break.

Australia, looking for wickets to keep the pressure on India, could manage just two in as many sessions on an easy-paced pitch.

Fast bowler Doug Bollinger was the only successful bowler, removing nightwatchman Ishant Sharma in the morning session and well-set Rahul Dravid (77) in the afternoon.

Dravid reached his half-century when he steered left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson past gully for a four and looked set to play a long innings before being caught behind. He hit 12 fours in his impressive 134-ball knock.

Tendulkar, who added 79 for the fourth wicket with Dravid, never looked in trouble during his 131-ball knock, having so far cracked nine fours.

He played some attractive strokes during his stay at the wicket, twice driving Bollinger through the covers for fours and hitting off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for two boundaries in an over.

India batted steadily in the first two sessions, adding 81 to their overnight total of 110-2 in the morning and 89 in the afternoon for the loss the just two wickets.

Australia started the day with pace from one end and spin from the other on a slow pitch, but had to wait for more than an hour to taste the first success in the morning session.

Bollinger struck in his opening spell when he removed Sharma (18), who was bowled shouldering arms, but not before held off the Australian attack for the crucial opening hour.

Sharma offered a sharp chance off Hauritz when on six but close fielder Michael Hussey failed to hold on to the ball. He hit three fours in his 56-ball knock.

Johnson, who dismissed openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag in the final session on Saturday, went wicketless in his 10 overs.

The second and final Test starts in Bangalore on October 9. -AFP

Nato supplies remain suspended at Torkham border

KARACHI: Nato supply remained suspended for the fourth day in a row after Pakistani authorities ordered a halt on the supply trucks going to Afghanistan.

According to security officials, about 200 Nato oil tankers and supply containers were stranded at the Torkham border on Sunday after being rejected clearance to proceed. Security forces also sent Nato trucks and containers back to Peshawar from another check-post near the border.

The order to suspend the supply trucks from passing through Torkham border into Afghanistan came after Nato helicopters conducted strikes inside Pakistan. According to a Foreign Office statement, the route will be opened after public anger over the Nato strikes eases.

Boys’ school destroyed in Mohmand Agency

KARACHI: A boy's school was destroyed by explosives on Sunday in Mohmand Agency, according to officials.

The building was severely damaged in the attack which left three classrooms, a balcony and a bathroom completely destroyed.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet.

Often local Taliban groups have claimed responsibility in the past for attacks on various schools and government institutions.

Bullet-riddled bodies of three men found in N. Waziristan

PESHAWAR: Officials say the bullet-riddled bodies of three men have been found at the side of a road in North Waziristan, killed by suspected Pakistani Taliban militants in apparent retaliation for recent US drone strikes in the area.

Two intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media, said Sunday a note saying ''anyone who dares spy for the Americans will meet the same fate'' was found next to the corpses.

Local government official Asghar Khan confirms the report but wouldn't identify the victims.

The slayings came the day after two suspected US missile attacks killed 16 people in the region, part of a recent surge in drone strikes in Pakistan along with stepped-up Nato operations along the frontier. – AP

Defiant Times Square bomber faces sentencing

NEW YORK: A Pakistani-American who admitted trying to set off a large bomb in New York's Times Square faces sentencing Tuesday, with prosecutors demanding the unrepentant would-be killer be incarcerated for life.

Faisal Shahzad, a US citizen who lived in Connecticut and started what resembled an ordinary American family before embracing militancy, pleaded guilty in June to the May 1 bombing attempt.

The bomb scare and revelations that the Taliban inside Pakistan were behind the attack further strained US-Pakistani relations, while deepening worries in the United States about so-called homegrown terrorists.

Shahzad, 30, was defiant in his last court appearance, claiming to have committed the crime in revenge for bombing by US drones in Pakistan.

Prosecutors say he should be shown no clemency.

“Far from providing an explanation for his criminal activity, Shahzad's history and characteristics strongly militate in favor of the maximum available sentence,” assistant US attorney Randall Jackson said in court papers ahead of the sentencing hearing.

The bombing attempt failed when the crude device, left in an SUV parked outside a theater on a warm Saturday evening, fizzled without igniting.

The entire operation was characterized by extreme amateurishness, with the bomber having to escape on foot because he left the keys to a second getaway car -- and those to his apartment -- inside the vehicle with the bomb.

But officials say that the bomb, had it gone off, would have caused carnage in one of New York's busiest neighborhoods.

Last week, FBI officials recreated the device in an empty field to demonstrate the fiery explosion they said could have occurred.

Prosecutors say that Shahzad boasted he expected to kill at least 40 people and that he had also planned to set off a second explosion, had he not been caught after the first.

According to prosecutors, he admitted using Internet webcam sites to monitor Times Square and see when and where a bomb would be most likely to cause bloodshed.

The car bomb was discovered smoking by a street vendor who alerted police.

Once the teeming area had been cleared, police dismantled the device and launched a frantic manhunt, only catching the bomber 53 hours later, just after he'd boarded a plane preparing to leave from JFK Airport to Dubai.

The son of a Pakistani air force officer, Shahzad came to the United States to study at the age of 18 and in 2009 became a naturalized American citizen.

Living in suburban Connecticut, he worked as a financial analyst and married another Pakistani-American, raising two children. But he says he became disillusioned with his estrangement from Islam and upset at what he considered humiliation of Muslims worldwide.

In a 40-minute Taliban video released by the US government, Shahzad, wearing Afghan garb and carrying an automatic rifle and a Quran, calls for war against the West to avenge what he refers to as downtrodden Muslims.

“You will see the Muslim war has just started, until Islam spreads war over the whole world,” he threatens in the video, whose authenticity could not be independently confirmed. “Our way is with the sword.” The video was apparently shot while Shahzad was receiving training in Taliban-friendly regions in Pakistan over the previous year, before coming back to Connecticut and gathering materials for the bomb. – AFP

US contemplating travel alert for Europe

WASHINGTON: The United States is considering issuing as early as Sunday an alert advising Americans traveling to Europe to be vigilant, a US official said after intelligence suggested an Al-Qaeda attack could be imminent.

“We are contemplating a travel alert for Europe,” the US official told AFP on Saturday on the condition of anonymity.

“The bottom line would be to tell Americans to continue to travel but be vigilant. The alert could be issued as early as tomorrow (Sunday),” the official said without giving a specific reason.

Another US government official told AFP the State Department would take “further actions as appropriate.” “We have been and continue to be focused on Al-Qaeda's interest in attacking us, our allies and our interests. We will spare no effort to thwart terrorists' plans, and will take further actions as appropriate,” the official said.

News media in the last week reported that western intelligence agencies had uncovered an Al-Qaeda plot to launch attacks in Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

The reports said well-armed, commando-style teams planned to seize and murder Western hostages in a manner similar to the siege two years ago of two Indian hotels in Mumbai, in which 10 gunmen killed 166 people and injured more than 300.

Intelligence and diplomatic officials in Europe and the United States so far have refused to confirm the alleged terror plot on the record.

However, a US official on Wednesday privately confirmed the reports, but said it was not clear when and where the attack was meant to be launched.

“The threat is, at this point, credible but not specific,” said the official, who asked to remain unnamed.

“It's unclear, for instance, precisely where something might occur. For that reason, people shouldn't limit their thinking to the United Kingdom, France, or Germany,” the official told AFP.

“And while no one should dismiss the prospect of a Mumbai-style operation, it's entirely conceivable that other modes of attack are in play.”The German weekly Der Spiegel reported Saturday that an Al-Qaeda plot to launch Mumbai-style attacks on European cities was planned by the group's number three leader with Osama bin Laden's support.

Der Spiegel reported in its issue to hit newsstands Monday that Al-Qaeda number three Sheikh Yunis al-Mauretani had plotted the attacks, and had shared his plans with Ahmad Siddiqui, a terrorist with German nationality currently held at the US-run Bagram Air Base in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Siddiqui was the likely source of information that sparked the recent hikes in Western security threat levels, the weekly said, adding that German intelligence agents were expected to travel to Afghanistan soon to question him.

Travel alerts are one step down from travel warnings, and the State Department says alerts usually refer to specific short-term events, according to its website.

Alerts “are issued to disseminate information about short-term conditions, either transnational or within a particular country, that pose significant risks to the security of US citizens,” the website said.

“Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, coups, anniversaries of terrorist events, election-related demonstrations or violence, and high-profile events such as international conferences or regional sports events are examples of conditions that might generate a Travel Alert.” Currently, a travel alert exists for India through November 15 due to the 2010 Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in New Delhi between October 3 and October 14, it said.

A total of 31 travel warnings are in effect for various countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel and Lebanon as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Somalia. – AFP

Hundred thousand police lock down Delhi

NEW DELHI: Nearly 100,000 police and paramilitary forces locked down New Delhi on Sunday for the start of the Commonwealth Games after a shambolic run-up that left the event teetering on the brink of collapse.

Many athletes have commented on the heavy security presence and the number of machine guns on display -- a result of months of worry in leading countries about the showpiece being a target for extremists.

A total 17,000 heavily armed paramilitary troopers are reinforcing 80,000 police to counter the danger from militant groups in South Asia.

Games veterans say that security exceeds the tight policing of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal promised “foolproof security” at a news conference on the eve of the Games, adding that every police officer “is on the job 24/7. Most are working and sleeping at the police station”.

India's particular form of organisation will finally be put to the test when the event begins with the opening ceremony attended by Britain's Prince Charles later Sunday.

Games supremo Suresh Kalmadi and Sports Minister M.S. Gill have insisted that the showpiece will be like an Indian wedding: disorganised beforehand but a roaring success on the day that sends everyone home with fond memories.

When advance parties from participating nations arrived in Delhi two weeks ago they found an “uninhabitable” athletes' village strewn with builders' rubble and blighted by blocked toilets and faulty electrics.

Many of the sports venues have only been completed in recent weeks, equipment has been installed hastily at the 11th hour and the rush has left little time for rehearsals and testing.

Instead of showcasing emerging India, the Games have so far highlighted the corruption and inefficiency in its bureaucracy and generated unflattering comparisons with China's organisation of the Olympics.

“I think the reality is that you can't take a monsoon wedding approach that everything will come together at the last minute,” Mike Hooper, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, warned late last month.

“It is such a massive task putting on a multi-sport event like the Commonwealth Games.”That the Games are even taking place at all could be seen as a minor triumph for India given the warnings and threats to pull out from participating nations, mostly countries and territories in the former British empire.

There have been multiple setbacks: a bridge collapsed near the main stadium; leading athletes have pulled out, leaving the already thin line-up of stars even more depleted; armed men attacked a tourist bus with a submachine gun.

At a commercial level, organisers have struggled to find sponsors and ticket sales have been slow, but have picked up in recent days.

“It is a sad state of affairs indeed and, psychologically, puts a question mark against India's capacity to deliver,” lamented Amit Mitra, general secretary of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Representatives from 71 nations and territories will be in the Indian capital to compete in 17 disciplines ranging from aquatics to wrestling and including lawn bowls and netball.

Many stars will be absent, however, including sprinters Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, tennis aces Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur, swimmer Stephanie Rice and cyclist Chris Hoy.

In an event with far less rigorous competition than the Olympics, sporting minnows such as Lesotho, Swaziland, Caymen Islands, Maldives, Niue and Kiribati have a chance of medal glory.

Despite chaotic preparations, there are signs the last-ditch efforts are paying off, with many athletes and teams full of praise for the facilities and security, reviving hopes the Games may yet be a qualified success.

“The venues are outstanding and we're really looking forward to competing there,” Wales chef de mission Chris Jenkins told reporters on Saturday.

The Games will be the most expensive in history with a price tag, including related city infrastructure such as transport upgrades, of six billion dollars, Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said in August. – AFP

Degrees of 150 lawmakers declared genuine

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has given a clean chit to another 150 lawmakers by declaring that their degrees are genuine.

The latest list submitted by HEC to the Election Commission includes the names of two federal ministers, one minister of state, two provincial ministers and central leaders of different political parties.

The list contains the names of two senators, 49 members of the National Assembly, 76 members of the Punjab Assembly, 16 members of the Sindh Assembly and seven members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

The two senators in the list are PPP’s secretary-general Jehangir Badar and Jamaat-i-Islami’s naib amir Prof Ibrahim Khan.

The list of MNAs contains the names of Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Health Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Minister of State for Interior Tasnim Ahmad Qureshi, Deputy Speaker of National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi, Punjab chief minister’s son Hamza Shahbaz Sharif and the chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Education, Abid Sher Ali.

Prominent among the list of MNAs are Hanif Abbasi, Khwaja Mohammad Asif, Anoosha Rehman and Chaudhry Barjees Tahir (PML-N), Hamid Yar Hiraj, Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Akram Masih Gill (PML-Q), Jehangir Khan Tarin (PML-F), Justice (retd) Fakharun Nisa, Shagufta Jumani and Belum Hasnain.

Other MNAs are Attaur Rehman, Mohammad Kamran Khan, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, Mohammad J. Mangrio, Noor Alam Khan, Malik Abrar Ahmad, Sardar Salim Haider Khan, Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema, Rashid Akbar Khan, Malik Nawab Sher Waseer, Mohammad Asim Nazir, Raheela Perveen, known as Raheela Baloch, Asif Tauseef, Saeed Iqbal, Haji Akram Ansari, Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Sahibzada Murtaza Amin, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Saeed Ahmad Zafar, Rana Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Pir Aslam Bodla, Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal, Chaudhry Saud Majeed, Abdul Ghafoor Chaudhry, Nighat Parveen Mir, Nauman Islam Shaikh, Salahuddin, Syed Inayat Ali Shah, Samina Mushtaq Pagganwala, Sabeen Rizvi and Nisar Bibi now known as Nisar Tanvir.

The list includes names of 76 members of Punjab Assembly: Robina Shaheen Watto, Embesat Hamid, Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mehmud, Chaudhry Mohammad Ayaz, Ziaullah Shah, Malik Khurram Ali Khan, Chaudhry Mohammad Saqlain, Chaudhry Aamar Sultan Cheema, Karam Elahi Bandial, Mohammad Asif Malik, Amir Hayat Rokhri, Mohammad Feroze Joyia, Chaudhry Raza Nasrullah Ghumman, Zafar Iqbal Nagra, Dr Sad Muazzam, Khalid Imtiaz Khan Baloch, Saqlain Anwer Sipra, Saeed Mughal, Mumtaz Ahmad, Shaukat Manzoor Cheema, Mian Tariq Mehmood, Mohammad Akhlaque, Chaudhry Tahir Mehmood Hundli, Awais Qasim Khan, Dr Tahir Ali Javed, Imran Nazir, Chaudhry Shahbaz Ahmad, Mohammad Naveed Anjum, Mohsin Latif, Mashood Ahmed Khan, Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmad, Rana Tanvir Ahmed Nasir, Shah Jahan Ahmad Bhatti, Mohammad Yaqoob Nadeem Sethi, Malik Akhter Hussain Naul, Haji Naeem Safdar Ansari, Ahsan Raza Khan, Rana Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Rai Farooq Umer Khan Kharral, Mohammad Mueen Watto, Rana Ejaz Ahmad Noon, Sardar Khalid Saleem Bhatti, Mohammad Naeem Akhtar, Asif Saeed Manais, Sardar Fateh Mohammad Khan Buzdar, Mohsin Khan Leghari, Col (retd) Javed Iqbal Sajid, Mian Mohammad Aslam, Chaudhry Mohammad Shafique, Hafiz Qamar Hayat Kathia, Malik Nosher Khan Langrial, Chaudhry Irfanuddin, Tariq Mehmood Aliana, Rehana Hadees, Dr Zamurad Yasmin Rana, Deeba Mirza Aneela Akhtar Chaudhry, Fariha Nayab, Shamila Zaheer (Shamila Aslam after marriage), Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Joel Ami Sahutra, Rana Asif Mehmood, Azma Zahid Bukhari, Tahir Naveed, Asifa Farooqui, Kishwar Qayyum, Fozia Bahram, Nazma Jawad Hashmi, Sajida Mir, Dr Amina Buttar, Rifat Sultana Dar, Saba Sadiq, Khadija Umar, Bushra Nawaz Gardezi and Qamar Aamir Chaudhry.

The 16 members of Sindh Assembly are provincial Minister for Special Education Syed Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi, Minister for Low Cost Housing Syed Mardan Shah, Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar, Tariq Masood Arain, Pir Ghulam Shah Jilani, Imran Zafar Leghari, Rana Abdul Sattar, Qazi Shamsuddin Rajar, Mohammad Rafiq Banbhan, Najmuddin Abro, Ruksana Parveen alias Rukhsana Shah, Rashida Akhtar Panhwar, Ram Singh, Shamim Ara Pahwar, Firdous Hameed alias Farheen Mughal and Musarrat Bano Warsi.

The seven members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly are Sanaullah Khan Miankhel, Adnan Khan, Advocate Munawar Khan, Yasmin Zia, Mohammad Javid Abbasi, Raja Faisal Zaman and Saqibullah Khan Chamkani.

Nawaz Sharif lacks intellect: Musharraf

LONDON: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf said ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif lost power twice because he lacked intellect.

Addressing hundreds of supporters in Birmingham on Saturday, he said his party would be accountable to the people. He said his party would have a democratic structure and power would not be inherited.

Outside the venue of the rally, a few hundred members of Hizbut Tahrir gathered in a peaceful protest. Some held banners that read “Pakistan needs an accountable ruler”.

“It went very well. He said that at the end of his term in office there were mistakes made and he apologised for that,” Birmingham lawmaker Khalid Mahmood said.—AP

Nato’s stolen combat material seized near Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Another godown laden with stolen items of Nato forces, including combat material, was unearthed in the capital’s rural area of Tarnol during a police raid on Saturday night.

Police sources told Dawn that the dealer of the stolen supplies of Nato sold the items to individuals and the large quantity of the items were purchased by militants. Four people were arrested during the raid.

Police had arrested four people and seized Nato items from another godown in the same loclitity on Friday night.

The Saturday raid was conducted in response to information gathered from the accused arrested on Friday.

Police and anti-terrorism squad personnel cordoned off the area of Dhok Paracha in Tarnol and raided the godown in a house and found a large quantity of items used by armed forces.

The seized items were: vehicles–four wheel DG-5 and six wheel DG-3–used as armed personnel carrier, accessories of helicopter, and other vehicles.

Besides, sophisticated equipments used during combat, communication system, wireless sets, heavy duty generators, mounts, motors, plastic boxes, almirahs, filters, vacuum cleaners, kit of mountain divers, stretchers, water bags, senior officer bags, shoes and gloves were also seized.

A senior police officer said that out of the four people arrested on Friday night, two were buyers and the two others owned the godown. The buyers had come from Landi Kotal to purchase generators and some other goods.

The godown owners told police that the transporters of Nato supplies unloaded the goods at their doorstep and any locality as convenient to them.

“Normally the transporters stole some items from the supplies and some times they unload the entire containers,” the officer quoted the accused as saying.

“Whenever, the entire container was stolen for them, the transporters set them in fire on the pretext of Taliban’s attack,” he said.

The officer said the accused revealed that there were more godown in Islamabad and other cities where huge quantity of stolen items of Nato supplies were kept.

He said the transporters get handsome amount to steal the goods from the supplies. He said the area was under police surveillance, which conducted search operation to unearth remaining godown in the locality.

Bench-bar gulf widens

LAHORE: The lower Mall area of Lahore saw pitched battles between lawyers and police on Saturday as the bar intensified its campaign for the transfer of a district and sessions judge.

The Lahore Bar Association, in a move highlighting the bitterness, barred the entry into its premises of the chief justice of the Lahore High Court, a number of other judges and some prominent lawyers it accused of playing a “dirty role” during the standoff.

The LBA’s move against leading figures of the movement in 2007-08 for reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry came at a general house meting.

Its president, Sajid Bashir, said the bar had decided to ban the entry into its premises of SCBA president Qazi Anwar, former president Aitzaz Ahsan, Hamid Khan, Ahmad Awais, Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal and Athar Minallah.

The bar also cancelled the membership of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, LHC Chief Justice Khwaja Mohammad Sharif, his two sons Khwaja Latif and Khwaja Bilal and son-in-law Azhar Hameed. Their entry to the bar was also banned.

On their part, the judges on the bench vowed not to surrender to the bar and offered to resign in support of their colleague, Zawwar A. Sheikh, whose transfer the lawyers have been demanding.

In Multan, 23 civil judges submitted their resignations to the District and Sessions Judge on Saturday in protest against “violent and insulting behaviour” of lawyers and to show solidarity with the LHC chief justice.

STRIKE

Judges of the district judiciary observed a strike and did not hold courts. They condemned the lawyers’ action and expressed solidarity with District and Sessions Judge Zawwar Ahmad Sheikh. The judges vowed to continue the strike till the return of D&SJ and criticised a decision to send him on a week-long leave.

At a meeting held in the office of a senior civil judge, the judicial officers said they had no personal grudge against the legal fraternity, adding that Zawwar Sheikh was an honest and dedicated judge and they should not be deprived of such an upright man.

POLICE ACTION

Police resorted to teargas shelling and fired into the air to disperse protesting lawyers at PMG Chowk, Lower Mall. The lawyers retaliated by pelting police personnel with stones, damaged their vehicles and also beat media personnel.

The LHC registrar held talks with the judges, but they refused to back down, coming up with an announcement that they would announce a “further line of action” on Monday.

LBA president Sajid Bashir and other leaders, who were released on Thursday night, held a general house meeting to condemn the police action and criticise the LHC chief justice for not transferring the sessions judge.

After the meeting, they came out of Aiwan-i-Adl and started marching towards PMG Chowk. They raised slogans against the LHC chief justice and the sessions judge. DIG (operations) Rao Sardar Ali Khan tried in vain to convince the bar leaders not to violate section 144.

When lawyers refused to abide by section 144 and continued their march, police resorted to aerial firing and teargas shelling. Lawyers hurled stones on police and also abused them. Some lawyers also suffered injuries in clash with police.

The lawyers compelled police personnel to move back by massive stone-pelting. They occupied the PMG Chowk and police went inside Nasir Bagh, about 100 yards away from the chowk.

Members of the Punjab Bar Council also joined their colleagues and continued their protest for half an hour. Police stayed away from lawyers as it appeared that they had no order to arrest them.

When lawyers were going back to Aiwan-i-Adl, some of them abused cameramen of private news channels, thrashed them and snatched their cameras. They accused the media of supporting the LHC chief justice and the provincial administration.

Journalists stopped the coverage and staged a sit-in in Lower Mall against lawyers’ highhandedness. Later, leaders from both sides reconciled the matter.

SC warns against vilifying judges

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court warned on Saturday against “impugning the impartiality of judges” and called for avoiding “unwarranted and uncalled for comments” on the court’s judgments.

“This court always welcomes healthy, constructive and fair comments on the merits of the decisions in good faith and in temperate language, without impugning the integrity or impartiality of the judge and expects that unwarranted and uncalled for comments would be avoided because judgments are based on law and the Constitution,” the Supreme Court office said in a rare statement.

The unusual court reaction came in response to a controversial statement by Labour and Manpower Minister Syed Khursheed Shah. Although the statement was withdrawn by the federal government’s information wing, some private channels and a section of the press carried it.

The minister had reportedly accused the judiciary of overstepping its mandate and interfering in decision-making, citing verdicts on sugar prices and the promotion of civil servants from BPS-21 to 22 to corroborate his assertion.

“The Supreme Court is following the Constitution and has played its due role assigned to it by the Constitution and law,” the statement said, adding that the court was mandated to protect the right of citizens, provide them justice and save them from discrimination.

“The court will play its role without fear or favour in the interest of establishing adherence to the Constitution and maintenance of rule of law in society,” it said.

SUGAR PRICE

Referring to the fixing of sugar price, the court recalled that six separate civil petitions impugning the Sept 3, 2009, order of the Lahore High Court were filed in the Supreme Court — one on behalf of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, one on behalf of Mecca Sugar Mills (Pvt), two on behalf of Sheikhoo Sugar Mills, one on behalf of the federal government and one on behalf of Abdul Quddus Mughal.

The LHC had passed the order to ensure the availability of sugar in the open market at Rs40 per kilogram. Therefore, the Supreme Court heard the case under its appellate jurisdiction and appointed a one-man commission — chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) — to ascertain the cost of sugar and profit margin and submit a report after hearing all stakeholders.

The commission had submitted its report and the apex court directed the finance secretary to discuss the report with all chief secretaries to ensure that at least non-industrial consumers whose shares in demand was stated to be 30 per cent should get sugar at Rs40 per kg until final determination.

The finance secretary later informed the court that a meeting of all stakeholders was held to finalise supply and distribution of sugar to domestic consumers at Rs40 per kg and told the court about the decision taken in this regard.

The apex court noted that decisions had been made unanimously by all stakeholders, including the federal and provincial governments, mill owners and the representatives of growers.

The federal and provincial governments were required to facilitate the stakeholders to watch their interests and get benefit out of the same.

The mill owners, however, were free to start crushing of sugarcane subject to supply of 30 per cent of the total produce of sugar for general consumers and 70 per cent for commercial use or for generating funds.

This arrangement should continue without interruption, injustice or prejudice to anyone. Since the petition involved a number of questions which were required to be decided by the apex court, the decisions were treated to be interim arrangement to enable the mill owners to start the crushing of sugarcane and, also at the same time, ensure the supply of sugar at the agreed ratio of 30:70. These cases are still pending.

BUREAUCRATS’ PROMOTION

About the promotion case of bureaucrats, the court statement clarified that it had been taken up on petitions filed by Tariq Azizuddin, ambassador to Turkey, and others.

The petitioners said the government had promoted officers of different occupational groups, including the Foreign Service group, from grade-21 to 22 in violation of law, constitutional provision and principle of merit, seniority and fair play.

The case was taken up under Article 184(3) of the Constitution be cause the element of discrimination was alleged in the case.

The Supreme Court heard the case and during the proceedings it was observed that good governance was largely dependent upon the upright, honest and strong bureaucracy, particularly in written constitution wherein important role of implementation had been assigned to the bureaucracy.

“Civil service is the backbone of administration. The purity of administration to a large extent depends upon the purity of the services. Such purity can be obtained only if the promotions are made on merit in accordance with the law and Constitution, without favouritism or nepotism,” the court statement said.

Some prominent lawyers representing the applicants and the government and the attorney general argued the case and decided the matter.

Bank unions call for lifting of restrictions on activities

ISLAMABAD: Despite the passage of one year, the PPP-led government has yet to fulfil its promise about abolishing controversial sections of the Banking Company Ordinance which restrict union activities in the sector.

At a labour convention on Oct 1, 2009, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had announced that anti- labour laws, including the Removal from Service Ordinance 2000 and Clause 27-B of the Banking Company Ordinance, would be abolished. The former has been repealed but the latter has yet to be abolished.

Trade union leaders of banks and other financial institutions on Saturday expressed resentment over what they described as the government’s apathy towards the interests of workers.

They termed the clause discriminatory and said it was inserted into the Constitution just to impose restrictions on union activities.

They said it gave a carte blanche to the government to privatise banks, selling them off to their ‘favourite parties’ who would approve loans for them without any check.

The law was enforced in 1997 during Nawaz Sharif’s second stint as prime minister.

Under the clause, union activities were banned during office hours; gathering of a few people on bank premises was prohibited; no unionist was allowed to talk to the bank management with respect to employees’ issues; and the use of bank premises and facilities for union activities was disallowed.

Chairman of the Organisation for Employees of Banks and Financial Institutions Malik Mohammad Hussain said the failure of PPP government to remove the anti-labour law “exposed its claims of being pro-worker”.

He said the performance of banks had been badly affected by the clause and cases involving embezzlement, loan write-off and favouritism in loaning had increased.

He said the government banks had been sold at throwaway prices. The United Bank Limited was sold for Rs12.5 billion, which he claimed was far less than the price of just one UBL building.

He demanded that the promise of repealing Clause 27-B be fulfilled at the earliest.

The organisation’s secretary general Akbar Ali Khan also assailed the failure to abolish the “black law”.

He said the controversial law was inserted in the Constitution to weaken unionism in banks and give the rulers and bank managements free hand to violate rules and regulations.

According to the Constitution, 25 per cent of the members of a union in any organisation should be open for ex-employees. But Clause 27-B has banned any such membership for outsiders.