Tuesday, September 8, 2009
2010 Audi Q5
- $37,350 - $37,350
- Invoice
- $34,735
Upon introduction, the Q5 is equipped with a standard 3.2-liter, V6, 270-horsepower engine that achieves 18-mpg in the city and 23-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.
source : autos.yahoo.com
LHC dismisses sugar millers’ plea for stay
LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed a civil miscellaneous application submitted by the Punjab chapter of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), seeking stay order against the LHC’s verdict fixing sugar price at Rs 40 per kilogramme.
The bench consisted of Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif and Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry. Shahid Karim advocate, counsel for the PSMA, submitted that the association had so far not received an attested copy of the LHC’s verdict on sugar price, which was required to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.
The counsel said the High Court had issued a short order regarding the sugar price and its detailed judgment was pending so the order could not be challenged before the SC. The counsel requested the court to suspend the earlier order until provision of an attested copy of the order.
The bench dismissed the application asking the PSMA’s counsel to collect the copy of the detailed judgment on Tuesday (today). Online adds: The PSMA had submitted before the court that it will challenge the court’s verdict before the Supreme Court and it (court) should suspend the implementation of its order because it was a one-sided verdict. The petition said sugar was not available in the market, which was not only causing inconvenience to people but mill owners were also facing financial losses.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Punjab chapter of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), Javed Kayani, told a private TV channel that sugar mill owners would move the Supreme Court against the high court verdict.
He said several meetings had been held with the Punjab government but talks were not successful as the provincial government said that the court’s decision had to be implemented while the PSMA categorically told the government it was not possible to implement the court’s decision. “We cannot recover even the cost of procuring sugarcane if we sell our products at the rate fixed by the court,” he said. He said the federal government had failed to release sufficient quantity of sugar from time to time.
Meanwhile, the Punjab law minister told a private TV channel that the court should issue contempt of court notices to mill owners for defying court’s order. He said the Punjab government did not take over sugar stocks but police officials were deployed at sugar mills to prevent movement of sugar from mills. He said dealers were ready to sell sugar at Rs 40 per kg if they got the commodity at Rs 36 per kg.
APP adds: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan urged the Lahore High Court on Monday to provide the services of bailiff so that the stocks of sugar mills could be bought at Rs 36 per kg.
Talking to media persons, he regretted that the sugar millers were not cooperating with the government and refusing to sell sugar at Rs 36 per kg. ìNow the option left is to forcefully take over about 500,000 tons of sugar lying in various godowns. The government is hesitant to occupy sugar stocks on its own as the owners can dispute the recovered figures. To avoid any controversy, bailiffs should be provided to the Punjab to forcefully occupy the stocks and make sugar available in the market at Rs 40 per kg,î the minister said.
Sanaullah said: ìThe Punjab is serious in implementing the orders of the Lahore High Court. The court should serve contempt of court notices to sugar barons and force them to cooperate in selling sugar at Rs 40 per kg, he added.
source : www.thenews.com.pk
SC can interfere if state organs transgress: CJ
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) is authorised to interfere if any state organ transgresses its parameters spelt out in the Constitution. This blunt warning was issued by none other than the top judge of the country. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, was addressing a ceremony to mark the New Judicial Year here on Monday.
“The Constitution is supreme. Therefore, it is constitutionally binding on all state organs to work within the parameters laid down in the Constitution. Heavy responsibility rests with the judiciary to ensure all the state departments remain and work within their ambit while exercising their powers and discharging their obligations. Under the Constitution, the supreme judiciary is empowered to interfere whenever any state organ oversteps the prescribed limits,” he said. “We are a democratic country and we have a written Constitution in place by the grace of Almighty Allah. We can feel proud of our Constitution as it was approved in parliament with the consensus of all the political parties. A scheme on the distribution of powers among all the departments and institutions is enshrined in the Constitution. Responsibilities of these organs have been defined in the Constitution so that they could not interfere in the jurisdiction of each other,” he remarked.
Oath taken by the judges of high courts and the Supreme Court makes it binding on them to protect, defend and uphold the Constitution, he said, adding the judges of the superior judiciary were constitutionally bound to keep a check on the steps taken by other institutions of the state.
The court wanted that political institutions, elected representatives and government officials should perform their duties in a befitting manner which was very critical for good governance, socio-economic development and political development, he observed.
Indicating that a guaranteed tenure would truly transform superior judiciary’s working, the chief justice said that independence of the judiciary could not be achieved until the judges are allowed to work without any fear of tenure. The chief justice also regretted that the “constitutional consultees” for the appointment of judges at the superior judiciary were heavily pressurised during the past one month for selection of certain persons. However, he said, no one succumbed to the pressure and the selection was made purely on merit.
The country’s top judge said the independence of judiciary is inextricably linked to the constitutional process of appointment of judges. In the past, he said, an attempt was made to disturb the independence of judiciary by fixing the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justices of high courts through the Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act 1976, which was not accepted by the general public and resultantly it has to be omitted through Item 34 of the Schedule to the PO No 14 of 1985.
The chief justice said that similar efforts had been made from time to time to change the retirement age of the judges of the superior judiciary. “All such acts were perpetuated to interdict the independence of judiciary,” he added.
The chief justice said the Supreme Judicial Council has been reactivated and it is taking up complaints of misconduct and corruption. He said that a new article has been added in the code of conduct for the judges of superior judiciary to guard against unwarranted interference from the executive through unconstitutional or extra-constitutional measures.
However, President Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Ahmad Kurd, in his address, said that “nothing has changed since the restoration of the deposed judiciary”. He said there was still the same practice, the same attitude and behaviour of judges from top to the bottom.
He said they were facing Pharaoh-minded people in the courts who gave weight and importance to disposal of cases rather than doing justice. He also regretted that the judges granted leave in a very limited number of petitions and rejected others without a passionate hearing. He said lawyers were very responsible persons and they could not even think to waste precious time of the court by filing frivolous petitions.
Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhry said that after the restoration of judiciary, the people of the country were looking towards the judiciary to take such steps, which will close the door for any intruder to step in and abrogate the Constitution. The Chief Justice said that the July 31 verdict of the apex court has not only imposed restriction on the dictators but the members of the judiciary have also been restrained from providing protection to the unconstitutional acts of the usurpers by taking oath under any unconstitutional instrument.
Attorney General of Pakistan Sardar Latif Khan Khosa lauded the efforts made by the superior judiciary for the sake of rule of law and the Constitution, but said there was much more to be done in this regard.
He urged the courts to redress the burden of backlog of pending cases, and drew attention to the discontent of multinational companies over their dispute resolution. He also urged the courts to encourage alternate dispute resolution mechanism to enhance rate of disposal of cases.
Khosa stressed the need of merit for the appointment of judges in the superior judiciary, saying the credibility and performance of the judiciary was directly proportionate to the quality of judicial appointments.
source : www.thenews.com.pk
Nawaz says no to anti-democracy conspiracies
BHURBAN: PML-N Quaid and former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif while rejecting the impression that his party is playing the role of friendly opposition declared that it would never become part of any conspiracy to destabilise the democratic system.
“We will not become part of the establishment’s agenda to destabilise the democratic system through any unconstitutional mean and will play the role of serious and patriotic opposition in true spirit of the Charter of Democracy (CoD),” Nawaz Sharif while addressing a meeting of his party’s parliamentary party, Central Working Committee and ticket-holders here at a local hotel on Monday.
“We do not want confrontation and would not let Pakistan fall prey to another dictator,” he said.The meeting, through a unanimous resolution, decided to dissolve all PML-N bodies at the central, provincial, district and union council levels. As a result, party president Shahbaz Sharif, members of CWC and others also ceased to hold party offices.
According to the party’s constitution, Nawaz Sharif was unanimously elected as chairman of the central organising committee, which would supervise party elections and membership campaign. The new office-bearers of party would be elected by March 23.
The meeting also passed a resolution, demanding restoration of the Constitution to October 12, 1999 position and measures to undo November 3 unconstitutional steps of Pervez Musharraf. It also demanded of the government to call an All Parties Conference on Balochistan.
The meeting expressed concerns over the sugar and energy crisis and dissatisfaction over government’s steps to handle the situation.
Nawaz Sharif said that his party is being dubbed as friendly opposition but the fact is that we do not want confrontation. “It was the politics of confrontation that caused the disintegration of the country in 1971 and resulted in the 1977 martial law and premature end of governments in the 1990s,” he recalled.
At the same time he told party workers and leaders present on the occasion that the role of constructive and serious opposition should not be mistaken as a favour to the PPP. “Those who want to destabilise the system should not expect that we will work on their agenda to become party to any unconstitutional step, nor shall we compromise on principles to gain power,” he said.
Nawaz Sharif also renewed his demand for trial of Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution, saying the nations, which do not believe in reward and punishment, could not make progress and it was also the law of the nature.
He said the country was standing at the most critical juncture of its 62-year history. “Those who subverted the Constitution must be punished if we want to take the country forward,” he said.
Nawaz Sharif said he wanted to implement the CoD and the Bhurban declaration in letter and spirit but some elements want to shirk their responsibilities. “Almighty Allah has given us the opportunity to implement the CoD and we should fulfil our duty,” he said.
He recalled this is the same venue where he PPP leadership had signed the Bhurban declaration but the judges were not restored even for 14 months. “It was people’s movement which brought about the restoration of the judiciary,” he said.
Referring to the reorganisation of the party and new party elections, he said the big step has been taken to revolutionise the party and turn it into a movement by enhancing the role of committed workers. He declared that there was no room for turncoats in his party.
Speaking on the occasion, party’s outgoing president Shahbaz Sharif said the judiciary was restored due to the struggle of Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N and the masses. He categorically stated that there would be no place for turncoats in the re-organisation of the party. “If any turncoat tries to enter the party, I myself will block his way,” Shahbaz Sharif said.
source by : www.thenews.com.pk
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