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Prohibited funding case: LHC bars FIA from ‘harassing’ Imran Khan

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  • Court orders FIA, other parties to submit responses in next hearing. 
  • Hearing adjourned till Dec 7. 
  • PTI challenged FIA’s summons, seeking a clean chit in case.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday restricted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from harassing PTI chief Imran Khan. 

The directive came during the hearing of the PTI chief’s plea against the FIA summons in the prohibited funding case opened against him. 

During the hearing, the court ordered the FIA and other parties to submit their responses at the next hearing. The court asked if some action could be taken against a political party following the instructions of the federal government. 

“Does this inquiry have any legal protection or not?” asked the court. 

In response to this, Khan’s lawyer said: “The inquiry of the prohibited funding case has no legal protection.” 

The FIA alleges that the PTI’s accounts were opened with the signatures of the party’s top leadership, the court maintained. 

“Do you accept these accounts?” questioned the court. 

“There are 13 accounts that the PTI doesn’t accept,” replied the lawyer. 

The hearing has been adjourned till December 7. 

PTI challenges FIA summons

On November 5, the PTI’s legal team challenged the FIA’s summons to the party chairman in the high court, seeking a clean chit in the case which it termed was part of the government’s political witch hunt.

Khan, in his petition, disputed the FIA’s notice for his appearance before the agency on November 7 and made the Ministry of Interior, DG FIA, Deputy Director FIA, and the investigation officer stakeholders. The petition said FIA sent the notice with the intent of political victimisation on October 31.

“The FIA’s inquiry regarding PTI Punjab’s bank account is based on bad faith. The probe was initiated to harass the former prime minister,” the petition said.

The inquiry was aimed at benefiting the political rivals, the petition alleged. “No one has ever objected to the PTI’s opening party bank accounts. And in the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling there are no instructions for FIA to investigate [PTI’s] bank accounts,” the petition read.

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A 4.9-magnitude earthquake rattles Swat and surrounding areas.

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Late on Thursday night, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 shook the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as the surrounding districts of Swat.

Fearfully, people emerged from their houses and began reciting passages from the Holy Quran. The earthquake did not cause any documented casualties or damage to property in any area in Swat.

The earthquake’s epicenter, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Islamabad, was situated 71 kilometers deep in the border region between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

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Pakistan

Sources claim that Babar was reappointed as the cricket team’s captain.

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Reappointing Babar Azam to lead the national squad upon the call of the newly-formed selection committee was decided by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday.

Sources claim that Babar will captain the Green Shirts in the upcoming five-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand, which kicks off on April 20.

After the team’s crushing defeat in the ICC World Cup 2023, Shaheen Shah Afridi was chosen as the white-ball captain, while Shan Masood was named the red-ball captain by the previous PCB administration.

The sources claimed that Babar’s appointment as captain was suggested by the selection committee. They said he will go to the Kakul training camp as captain.

Shaheen had chosen to step down, but his close friends urged him against it and to wait for the PCB’s decision, according to individuals close to him.

After guiding the team for four years, Babar resigned as captain of the national team in all formats in November of last year. After Pakistan’s poor performance in both the Asia Cup and the World Cup, where they were unable to advance to the semi-finals, he faced criticism for several months.

Although Babar was named Test and white-ball captain in 2020 and 2019, respectively, the side has neither won an Asia Cup nor an ICC championship while he has been captain.

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Two children died after consuming apples treated with pesticide.

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 four more children were ill and at least two toddlers died in Abbottabad on Thursday after consuming apples treated with pesticide.

The specifics include that as the children were traveling home from their studies at the madrassa, they ate sprayed apples from a garden. As a result, six of the children’s conditions worsened, and they were sent to a local hospital right away.

Four children were in serious condition and two died in the hospital while receiving treatment. Five-year-old Fanan and seven-year-old Hina Shehzadi were named as the deceased.

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