Day: January 13, 2009

ISLAMABAD: Farah Hameed Dogar, the daughter of Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar, has finally decided not to sue in court or file any case against those who, according to her, were running a campaign against her and her father regarding the jacking up of her marks, Farah’s lawyer Malik Qayyum confirmed to The News.

After the disclosure of the scandal concerning the alleged misuse of power for jacking up her marks through reassessment, Farah Hameed Dogar had issued a press release through the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Bashir Janjua, in which she had pledged to sue in courts and register criminal cases against the persons responsible for running a ‘vilification-campaign’ against her and her father ñ the Chief Justice of Pakistan ñ in the print and electronic media. The exact words regarding this in her maiden contact with the media were: “I also reserve my right to sue for damages besides filing criminal cases against the concerned persons.”

After Farah’s statement was issued, former attorney general and close aide of ex-president Musharraf had told The News that he was working to file cases in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Supreme Court and the cases will be filed by December 16th. Qayyum had also promised to provide The News with the copies of some apex court’s decisions allowing the reassessment of papers, which he didn’t provide despite the fact that he was repeatedly reminded of his assurance. Malik had also told this scribe that he was not preparing to register cases against any media outlet.

While talking to The News late Saturday night, Qayyum said, “We have decided that we will neither move any case in any court nor register any criminal case against anyone; instead we will defend ourselves in a case under hearing in the IHC.” Malik said that it was not suitable to move a new case, so it was decided to argue in the IHC on the case challenging Farah Dogar’s jacked up marks. When asked that he hasn’t provided The News with some previous SC verdicts allowing reassessment of papers, Malik said that copies of the said decisions were in Islamabad while he was in Lahore. He promised that he would provide The News with the copies of the decisions on Monday (today).

It is pertinent to mention that the petition challenging the jacking up of Farah’s marks in the IHC was moved by Tehreek Falah-e-Pakistan president Muhammad Azam Khan Sultanpuri, who is an important member of the Naek Camp.

The case was moved on December 2, 2008 in an apparent move to halt the proceedings of Standing Committees of the National Assembly and the Senate on Education ñ as the Senate committee was meeting the same day while the NA body was scheduled to meet on Dec 3rd.

Malik also said that he will represent Farah Dogar in the IHC in the case of her F.Sc marks, which was fixed for Jan 13th. Malik also said that he only remembered the reference of one case ñ the LHC-98 PLC ñ in which the Lahore High Court had allowed reassessment.

It is very important to mention that The News story which broke the scandal, now being termed as the scandal of the decade, published on Nov 25th last, quoted three important Supreme Court decisions declaring reassessment as illegal. One such decision even says, “If the reassessment of papers after declaration of result is allowed, it could open a Pandora’s box. The educational systems will collapse if the reassessment is allowed.”
Source: The News
Date:1/13/2009

KARACHI, Jan 12: Thousands of women supporters of a religious party marched through the city on Monday to protest against Israeli action in Gaza and to criticise the United States for its support to Israel.

The women, many with their children, carried placards that read “Boycott America and Israel” and many wore headbands calling for jihad against Israel, which they called “the biggest threat to the world peace”.

The protesters also burned an Israeli flag.

“It is painful that Israel continued its attacks on Gaza despite the UN Security Council’s 14 member countries adopted the resolution calling for a stop to these attacks,” Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, a leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami, which organised the rally, told the crowd.

“Israel is only doing this because it is supported by US President Bush,” he said.

Senior police official Javed Riaz estimated the number of protesters at about 5,000, making it one of the biggest anti-Israel rallies in Pakistan since the Israeli offensive in Gaza began.

Meanwhile, the Pasban Pakistan, a rights organisation, has given a country-wide strike call for Friday to protest against the Israeli brutalities.

In a press release issued on Monday, the rights group appealed to people from all walks of life to join hands and raise voice against the killings of innocent Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the Karachi University Teachers Society condemned Israeli attacks on innocent Palestinians and announced that teachers would stage a protest against the Israeli attacks on Thursday.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/13/2009

KARACHI, Jan 12: A 25-year-old woman was shot and wounded allegedly by her husband’s younger brother in Manzoor Colony.

The Baloch Colony police said Abdul Ghaffar opened fire on Marium, wife of Abdul Majeed, in her home at around 12.40pm and fled. The wounded woman was shifted to the JPMC, where sources said the victim had received a bullet in her right arm.

They said the woman was discharged from the hospital after treatment. The police registered a case (FIR 13/2009) under Section 324 of the PPC against the suspect on the complaint of the wounded woman.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/13/2009

KARACHI, Jan 12: A lady health worker who posed as a gynaecologist was convicted for manslaughter as a district and sessions court found on Monday that the emergency Caesarean section case she handled in 2006 resulted in the death of her patient.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Sanaullah Ghori sentenced the quack, Raheela Abidi, to five years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs50,000 as compensation to the victim’s family. In case of default, the convict would undergo an additional two-year imprisonment.

The judge pronounced the verdict after recording the final arguments from both sides. The court found her guilty of negligence in handling a Caesarean section case that caused the death of the patient at her clinic in Jan 2006.

The judge in his verdict observed that the prosecution had produced witnesses and documentary evidence in court which proved that the accused was not a doctor and that the victim died due to her negligence.

There was no major contradiction between the evidence of witnesses and prosecution story while no enmity was found between the accused and the complainant for implication of the accused in the case, the verdict added.

The judge concluded that after considering the material evidence he was of the considered view that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt.

According to the prosecution, the accused, Raheela Abidi, wife of Ali Abidi, had posed as a doctor/gynaecologist and opened a clinic and maternity home in the limits of Model Colony police station.

On Jan 14, 2006, the complainant, Prince Peter, brought his pregnant wife, Rosemary, to the clinic with a complaint of abdominal pain. The patient was operated upon but she died during the “surgery” and Raheela was held responsible for showing negligence in handling the C-section delivery case.

A case (FIR11/06) was registered against the accused under Section 319 (manslaughter or qatl-i-khata) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Model Colony police station on the complaint of the victim’s husband. However, the accused got pre-arrest bail from a court of law.In the final arguments, the public prosecutor, Mohammad Arif Sitai, submitted that the prosecution had provided ample evidence against the accused to prove her involvement in the case.

He said that it was proved through the documentary evidence as well as the testimony of witnesses that the accused was a health worker and she, with criminal intentions, had posed as a gynaecologist and opened a maternity clinic.

He stated that that the victim died due to her negligence as she was not capable of conducting such operations since neither she was a doctor nor the clinic had the required equipment. He prayed to the court to award her maximum punishment.

However, the defence counsel argued that there was no evidence against the accused and the prosecution failed to establish its case. He prayed to the court to acquit his client.

After the verdict, the convict was taken into custody in the courtroom and sent to the prison along with the conviction warrant to serve her sentence.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/13/2009