Daily Times

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday criticised President Arif Alvi for returning the Supreme Court bill – which aims to curtail the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take suo motu notice and constitute benches on his own – to Parliament after it was passed by the National Assembly, calling it “most unfortunate.”

The federal cabinet had requested that the president immediately sign the bill, in an effort to resolve the country’s constitutional and political crisis. The bill, which has already been approved by the National Assembly and Senate, was passed in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to order elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa within 90 days of their dissolution, among other such decisions. However, President Alvi, earlier in the day, returned the bill to parliament for “reconsideration”. “President Alvi returning the Supreme Court Bill duly passed by parliament is most unfortunate,” Shehbaz said on his official Twitter handle.

“Through his conduct, he has belittled the august Office by acting as a worker of the PTI, one who is beholden to Imran Niazi more than the Constitution & demands of his Office.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on Saturday on the arrest of the leader and founder of the banned Baloch National Army (BNA) Gulzar Imam.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the premier offered “heartfelt felicitations to the ISI” for conducting the “brilliant operation” which led to Imam’s arrest. “Heartfelt felicitations to ISI for carrying out a brilliant operation that resulted in the arrest of BNA’s founder. This operation speaks of outstanding professionalism of our institutions.

The arrest will help suppress militancy in Balochistan & usher in a new era of peace,” he said in a tweet. “This operation speaks of outstanding professionalism of our institutions,” he stated. The prime minister furthered that the arrest would help suppress militancy in Balochistan and “usher in a new era of peace”. BNA leader Gulzar Imam alias Shambay, was arrested in a high-profile intelligence-based operation by the security forces, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) revealed in a statement issued a day earlier.

The “high-value target” had been a “hardcore militant as well as founder and leader of the banned outfit Baloch National Army (BNA) which came into being after the amalgamation of Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and United Baloch Army (UBA)”, read the statement.