The Jang Group has become so obsessed with quickly seeing the back of the government and is probably salivating so much over the prospects of threatened long marches that sometimes it gets muddled up in its excitement... This is the heading from yesterday's daily Jang about Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani trying to reassure people - dreading a government-Supreme Court showdown in court today (October 13) - that nothing bad would happen. The headline reads: "13 March Ko Kuchh Nahin Hoga..." [Nothing will happen on March 13...]. REFERENCE: Crap All Round WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010 http://cafepyala.blogspot.com/2010/10/crap-all-round.html
(Courtesy: Mr. Maaz Abdullah)
According to a notification released by the SC, directors of three local TV channels and Chairman Pemra, Mushtaq Ahmed, were informed by a notice to be present at the hearing. The full court will only do the hearings of judges’ restoration notification on 18th October. While other benches will proceed with their normal hearings. REFERENCE: Dawn News SC hearing for restoration notification on 18 Oct Saturday, 16 Oct, 2010 http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/06-sc-hearing-for-restoration-notification-on-18-oct-rs-01
میڈیا اور ججز:’رد عمل ذرا زیادہ تھا‘
آخری وقت اشاعت: جمعـء 15 اکتوبر 2010 , 15:46 GMT 20:46 PST
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/multimedia/2010/10/101015_judges_asma.shtml
Mubahir Lucman [Former Caretaker Provincial Minister Punjab under General Pervez Musharraf, nowadays Express News TV Anchor] using Abusive Language against the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Last year I used to work for Express News TV as a Researcher and I was asked by the Executives to provide Question for General Pervez Musharraf which I did and now watch the Intellectual Dishonesty of this Loudmouth Braggart i.e. Mubashir Lucman and compare the question which I had sent with proper references and see for yourself how "soft" Mubashir Lucman was on a "Military Dictator" and compare the same Mubashir Lucman's program with any "Elected Representative" and you may note that he not only misbehave rather put the guest in embarrassing position [shame on our Politicians who accepts insults from a two bit TV Anchor]. Such Interviews should be called "Press Conferences" Compare the questions which were sent and watch what Mubashir asked! REFERENCE: Alleged Trial of General Pervez Musharraf!
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/07/alleged-trial-of-general-pervez.html
Gen Pervez Musharraf Interview - Point Blank Mubashir Lucman Part 1
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJmSxET-CA4
Questions for Musharraf are as under with Bibliography and References.
Q - 1 What happened to the so-called seven point agenda which was announced by General Musharraf after 12 Oct 1999? Particularly across the Board Accountability of Army Officers and Judiciary. If there was built in system of Accountability in both of the institutions then why Musharraf Government issued charge sheet against his own hand picked CJ Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry [why the Supreme Judicial Council was not consulted]
Reference: NAB has evidence of mass corruption in past defence deals NAB still to take up cases against corrupt officers; documents with NAB suggest many deals made by military men involved kickbacks News Intelligence Unit by Kamran Khan ‘The News’ dated August 29, 2000
Reference: CJ says chiefs of MI, ISI asked him to quit: Affidavit on March 9 camp office event By Iftikhar A. Khan May 30, 2007, Wednesday, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1428 http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/30/top1.htm
Q - 2 Why the Pakistani Military used to Support Taliban, Several Sectarian Outfits and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba before 911? And while the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi stand officially disbanded, their most militant son and leader, Maulana Azam Tariq, an accused in several cases of sectarian killing, contested elections from jail - albeit as an independent candidate - won his seat, and was released on bail shortly thereafter. Musharraf rewrote election rules to disqualify former Prime Ministers Mohammed Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, and threatened to toss them in jail if they returned from abroad, which badly undermined both Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League and Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Musharraf has plainly given the religious groups more free rein in the campaign than he has allowed the two big parties that were his main rivals. In Jhang city, in Punjab province, Maulana Azam Tariq, leader of an outlawed extremist group called Sipah-e-Sahaba, which has been linked to numerous sectarian killings, is being allowed to run as an independent�despite election laws that disqualify any candidate who has criminal charges pending, or even those who did not earn a college degree. "It makes no sense that Benazir can't run in the election," says one Islamabad-based diplomat, "and this nasty guy can."
References: And this takes me back to Pervez Musharraf’s first visit to the US after his coup. At a meeting with a group of journalists among whom I was present, my dear and much lamented friend Tahir Mirza, then the Dawn correspondent, asked Musharraf why he was not acting against Lashkar-e Tayba and Jaish-e Muhammad. Musharraf went red in the face and shot back, “They are not doing anything in Pakistan. They are doing jihad outside.” Pakistani neocons and UN sanctions Khalid Hasan This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm. http://www.khalidhasan.net/2008/12/28/pakistani-neocons-and-un-sanctions/ For http://www.newsline.com.pk/newsJan2003/cover1jan2003.htm - General's Election By TIM MCGIRK / KHANA-KHEL Monday, Oct. 07, 2002 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,361788,00.html
Q – 3 What was the need of Plane Hijacking Case against Mian Nawaz Sharif when he was no more in Islamabad in Oct 1999.
Reference: 12 OCT 1999 History is as under. Pakistan coup 'unplanned' Friday, 11 February, 2000, 13:44 GMT Gen Musharraf 'did not know he was sacked' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/638970.stm World: South Asia Pakistan's coup: Why the army acted General Hamid Gul: "The army acted in the national interest" [LISTEN] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/473297.stm Pakistan's coup: The 17-hour victory http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/475195.stm Musharraf must face an open trial By Yousuf Nazar August 19, 2008 Tuesday Sha'aban 16, 1429 http://www.dawn.com/2008/08/19/ed.htm#3
Q – 4 Meanwhile, what surprised some was Karamat's dismissive tone about the A Q Khan affair, which he labeled a "proliferation episode" while denying any government complicity in it. "There was no government sanction, approval, or any kind of government connection with what went on," he said flatly. But Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, in his 11-page confession reported in the US press in February, named Karamat, former chief of army staff General (retired) Mirza Aslam Beg and President General Pervez Musharraf as the men on top who were aware of what was going on. As the chief of army staff from 1996-98, Karamat was directly responsible for the safety and security of the nuclear program.
Reference: Pakistan lays down the agenda for the US By Seema Sirohi - Seema Sirohi is a Washington-based correspondent. Dated Dec 25, 2004 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FL25Df01.html
Gen Pervez Musharraf Interview - Point Blank Mubashir Lucman Part 2
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FdIipvcP2U&feature=related
Q – 5 What was the need to rig 2002 Elections? The main wheeler and dealer of the ISI during the 2002 elections, the then Maj-Gen Ehtesham Zamir, now retired, has come out of the closet and admitted his guilt of manipulating the 2002 elections, and has directly blamed Gen Musharraf for ordering so.
Reference: The man, who rigged 2002 polls, spills the beans by Umar Cheema Dated Sunday, February 24, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=13159
Q – 6 If politicians were so bad then what was the need to pick the worst from bad lot for the period 2002 – 2007? The writ petition relates that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi obtained a loan in the name of the company of which they were both directors, Punjab Sugar Mills Limited of Mian Channu, from the National Bank of Pakistan. In 1999, Rs.37.987 million was written off, which fact is recorded in the annual report of the bank for that year. At the time, Shujaat was the federal minister of interior and Pervaiz was speaker of the Punjab Assembly. The two Chaudhrys obtained another loan from the Muslim Commercial Bank Limited for their Punjab Sugar Mills Limited and in 2000 a sum of Rs 22.792 million was written off, which fact is recorded in the annual report of the Bank for that year
References: As white as driven snow By Ardeshir Cowasjee 03 November 2002 http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20021103.htm - In His Prime - A loyalist of the Pakistan army establishment, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain finally makes it to the much coveted post of Prime Minister. Monthly Newsline [July 2004] Story by Adnan Adil http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsJul2004/newsbeat2jul.htm
Q – 7 What about Karachi Stock Exchange Crash {Shaukat Aziz}?
Reference: ‘Big fish’ allowed to escape net: Tariq: Ex-chief of SECP issues ‘white paper’ By Sher Baz Khan July 8, 2006 http://www.dawn.com/2006/07/08/top2.htm - Stock market scams by Rauf Klasra SATURDAY, JULY 08, 2006 STATE MINISTER, ADVISER ACCUSED OF LINKS TO BROKERS HTTP://WWW.THENEWS.COM.PK/TOP_STORY_DETAIL.ASP?ID=1842 - FRIDAY, JULY 07, 2006 Shortcut & Co. Facing Serious Sleaze Allegations
http://politicalpakistan.blogspot.com/2006/07/shortcut-co-facing-serious-sleaze.html
Gen Pervez Musharraf Interview - Point Blank Mubashir Lucman Part 3
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8aOtnpvpgo&feature=related
Q – 8 Accountability of Generals [One of the 7 point agenda was Across the Board Accountability]
Reference: 499 high and mighty in for trouble by Rauf Klasra Wednesday, October 10, 2007 SC move against misuse of farmhouses to affect rulers, generals, bureaucrats, businessmen http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=10566
Q – 9 Where the US Aid has gone? Questions about was raised by the Correspondent of Daily Dawn, Mr Faraz Hashmi after 911 for which Mr Faraz faced severe beating by unknown persons [as reported by Daily Dawn – Reference is not available]
Reference: U.S. Payments To Pakistan Face New Scrutiny Little Accounting for Costs To Support Ally's Troops By Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 21, 2008; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/20/ST2008022002819.html?hpid=topnews
Q – 10 Tell us something about Kargil Operation???
2 - Shaheen Sehbai, Ansar Abbasi and Ahmed Quraishi - 2 http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/01/shaheen-sehbai-ansar-abbasi-and-ahmed_16.html
Q – 11 Who is Brigadier Niaz and if you know him then what is the connection between him, you and Sharif Brothers. References: Shahbaz admits political dialogue with Brig Niaz By Rauf Klasra dt Friday, January 18, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=12368 Brig Niaz: the man playing the informal go-between By Tariq Butt dt Tuesday, January 15, 2008 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=12308 Efforts on to revive Musharraf-Nawaz contacts By Rauf Klasra dt Saturday, August 25, 2007 http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=9766 Shahbaz meets president’s aide today By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir dt Saturday, January 12, 2008 http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=12238 Musharraf's aides invite Sharif's brother to join govt dt January 13, 2008 20:31 IST http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jan/13pakpoll.htm
شریف خاندان مشرف کو کیا دے رہا ہے
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2007/11/071125_nawaz_return_analysis_zs.shtml
جلاوطنی معاہدے کی نقل عدالت میں
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2007/08/070822_agrmnt_nawaz_court_zs.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/specials/1236_nawaz_agrmnt/index.shtml
Gen Pervez Musharraf Interview - Point Blank Mubashir Lucman Part 4
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xto5I-WWO-U&feature=related
Same behaviour is of GEO TV Host Kamran Khan who nowadays "advising" Nawaz Sharif for the Long March against the elected government and what not and now watch as to how Kamran Khan "behaving" with a Military Dictator General Musharraf and also read Kamran Khan's "Alleged Investigative Report" which he filed in The News International/Daily Jang 11 Years ago against an Elected Government. Such Interviews should be called "Press Conferences" Reference: General (R) Ziauddin Butt & Kamran Khan's Intellectual Dishonesty. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/10/general-r-ziauddin-butt-kamran-khans.htmlPresident Musharraf interview GEO TV with Kamran Khan Part 1
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvbM1mwrQdo
During the infamous "Sindhi Cap Fiasco of GEO TV" Kamran Khan lied through his teeth by saying that Dr. Shahid Masood’s words against Sindhi Culture were Unintentional. When something goes ON AIR you [GEO TV] better own it that these were the Real Intentions of GEO TV. REFERENCE: GEO TV/JANG GROUP: Lies of Kamran Khan. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/geo-tvjang-group-lies-of-kamran-khan.html GEO TV/JANG GROUP: Sindhi Cap, National Dress & General Musharraf. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/geo-tvjang-group-sindhi-cap-national.html JANG GROUP/GEO TV: Contempt of Court, Media Trial & EX. Senator Saifur Rehman. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/jang-groupgeo-tv-contempt-of-court.html Former President Rafiq Tarar Sabotaged & Subverted the Judiciary. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/09/former-president-rafiq-tarar-sabotaged.html
President Musharraf interview GEO TV with Kamran Khan Part 2
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29yz69tENiQ&feature=related
As per AAJ TV Website: One of Pakistan’s biggest talk shows Talat Hussain hosts Pakistan’s most respected and daring political analysis show, Live with Talat. Featuring the most trusted social and political intellectuals of Pakistan, the show brings in-depth analysis of the day’s biggest events and avoids the clutter to focus only on what’s important. Live everyday from the seat of power, Live with Talat is a must watch to understand the future socio-economic direction of our country. REFERENCE: Live With Talat http://www.aaj.tv/programme/76_info.html
Talat Hussain is presently the executive director News and Current Affairs of AAJ Television. He also contributes for Newsline, Time Magazine and occasionally contributes to India Today. He has worked with International channels like CNN and American Broadcasting as producer and has done extensive reporting for Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times. As a media person he has vast experience in establishing news and current affairs systems. He has held key positions of Director, News & Current Affairs, with Pakistan Television Corporation, Prime Television (UK), ARY ONE, and Telebiz. REFERENCES: http://pakistaniprofiles.com/syed-talat-hussain-journalist-anchor-person/http://www.aaj.tv/programme/76_info.html
Last week Mr. Talat Hussain [LIE with Talat] also wrote an article in Express Newspaper and declared that some people have been targeting him with a nick name “Ghairat Brigade”, and he wrote whatever may come, he {Talat} will not be in “Bayghairat Brigade”. Ok, agreed, very well. Let me refresh the memory of Ghairat Mand Talat Hussain and his cohorts. Talat after quitting PTV had approached ARY TV and joined ARY TV as a Host and Anchor 2003/2004. One cannot imagine that Talat being a “Seasoned” Current Affair Journalist wouldn’t have remembered the below mentioned case of ARY. 159. Asif Ali Zardari ex-MNA (Received kickbacks from SGS PSI Company, Grant of license to ARY Gold). REFERENCE: The accused and accusations Sunday, November 22, 2009 [The News International Jang Group of Newspapers] http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=25713
Yesterday [12-12-2009], Mr. Talat Hussain has struck again by writing a Letter in Daily Express News Paper [rebirth of Irhsad Ahmed Haqqani in Daily Expressnews] which was addressed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani and advised him as to how to run the Government. One wonders as to why these Journalists, Analysts and TV Anchor don't run for Public Office by participating in General Eelections, the letter of Mr Talat Hussain is as under:
Mr Talat Hussain often writes for Express News. Talat is so “Ghairatmand - Honourbale” that he almost “forgot” to remember this as well:
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11 - Sultan Ali Lakhani & family Pakistan Ranking: 9 (tied at 9) Worth: £400m ($800) Industry: Businessman
The Lakhanis are currently having a hard time at the hands of NAB. Sultan Lakhani and his three brothers run this prestigious group and the chain of McDonald’s restaurants in Pakistan. NAB has alleged the Lakhanis of having created phoney companies through worthless directors and raised massive loans from various banks and financial institutions. Sultan is currently abroad after having served a jail term with younger sibling Amin, though the latter was released much earlier. NAB had reportedly demanded Rs 7 billion from Lakhanis, but later agreed they pay only Rs 1.5 billion over a 10-year period. Lakhanis, like their arch-rivals Hashwanis, are the most well-known of all Ismaeli tycoons. Their stakes range from media, tobacco, paper, chemicals and surgical equipment to cotton, packaging, insurance, detergents and other house-hold items, many of which are joint ventures with leading international conglomerates. Though Lakhanis are in turbulent waters currently, the success that greeted them during the last 25 years especially has been tremendous. They have rifts with large business empires despite being known fur their genteel nature. Whether it is any government in Sindh or at the Federal level, Lakhanis have had trusted friends everywhere, though the present era has proved a painful exception. REFERENCE: Pakistans Rich List of 2008 Posted by Teeth MaestroDecember 8, 2007 http://teeth.com.pk/blog/2007/12/08/pakistans-rich-list-of-2008
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NAB in tight corner as businessmen refuse to pay dues By Kamran Khan - Two important business families of the provincial metropolis who had earlier agreed to pay about Rs1.8 billion to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and various banks - an offer that won them an immunity against allegations of financial impropriety and release of their key directors from prisons - have reneged on their promises. The defiant businessmen, senior NAB officials concede, currently constitute the single most important challenge to their drive against white-collar crime in the country. Senior NAB officials have confirmed that Sultanally Lakhani and his three brothers, who partly run and operate the Lackson Group of Companies, and the Mcdonald’s food restaurants in Pakistan, after two initial payments of Rs100 million each, have stopped further payments for an agreed amount of Rs1.5 billion.
The NAB had alleged that the Lakhani brothers created phoney companies through worthless directors and raised massive loans from various banks and financial institution. Similarly, Irfan Iqbal Puri, Karachi’s leading supplier of petroleum products from the Gulf countries, has refused to match the agreed amount of Rs300 million after an initial payment of Rs230 million to the NAB. Puri, the NAB had alleged, compromised the quality and quantity of petroleum products in supplies to the Pakistan State Oil and caused huge financial loss to the national exchequer. Sultanally Lakhani, who was jailed for about nine months, and Irfan Puri, who had spent almost an equal amount of time in the NAB and jail custody, have since left the country and have taken up residence in the United States and the United Kingdom. Their attorneys have challenged the signed deals with the NAB claiming that the deals were signed under duress. Circles close to both the persons said that if the "businessmen are harassed in this country you can not stop negative impacts". "We are initiating fresh probe and action against the Lakhanis and Irfan Puri," said a senior NAB official. "The NAB will make sure that they stand by their agreements. We can’t allow people to hoodwink the NAB." A present official of the NAB said that in the past the Bureau had brought historical achievements and brought back large amount of looted money. A big and highly reputed entrepreneur, who knows much about Lakhani’s case, while talking to The News categorically said that it was sheer injustice to those businessman who were law-abiding and doing their business honestly and making some achievements by working hard day and night. He said that a businessman obtained loans of billions of rupees, invested it in his business by some other name, earned a lot of profit, multiplied his wealth, brought new products in the market but declined to return the loan, and when he was caught he was given ten years more to pay back the loan in instalments. What are the laws of this country that when this person again defaulted no one is making it point that till the time he was caught, how much he had expanded his business and how many products he had introduced using these loans, he said. He said that it would not be surprising that he would again be given the facility of repayment in instalments for further many years and these episodes would go on. When asked about remedy, he said that it would be fair that the amount due on such defaulters be secured by confiscating their business units of equivalent value plus interest and selling these in the market. He added that it was injustice with other businessmen and the country to give any concession to such habitual defaulters who were continuously expanding their business and bringing new products in the market and not paying back heavy loans by bringing up the plea that they were in loss in the company for which the loan was taken. "It’s a fraud with the nation," he said.
On the other hand, various legal experts are wondering if the NAB had foolproof cases against the accused businessmen, why did the NAB top brass left big legal holes in their deals with the businessmen who somehow managed that the NAB make no official mention of the specific charges against them and the entire evidence collected in the course of investigation be "dismembered". Sultan Lakhani and his brother Amin Lakhani, who is also Honorary Consul-General of Singapore, were arrested on May 8, 2000 by the NAB wing of the ISI. Amin was released after a few days, but Sultan spent another nine months in various NAB detention centres and Adyala prison before his lawyer and the present Attorney-General of Pakistan, Makhdoom Ali Khan, reached an agreement with the then NAB chairman. NAB officials privately concede that in case of Sultanally Lakhani and other key directors of the Lackson Group of Companies, the then NAB leadership had not applied the legally tenable practise of plea bargain and instead had decided to supervise a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Lakhani brothers and various financial institutions. They further said they were looking that how such a deal had been made. Was there a helping hand or was it done innocently?
Sliding down from its initial demand of Rs7 billion, the NAB agreed with Makhdom Ali Khan advocate of the Lakhani brothers that they pay an amount of Rs1.5 billion to the lenders in 10 years. The NAB agreed that in the MOU that the Lakhani brothers would not accept any guilt in the document and instead the MOU would reflect them as buyers of assets of nine companies in exchange for the payment of liabilities. The NAB had found, in its investigation, that all these companies were actually front for the Lakhani brothers, who consistently denied the charge. Furthermore, the NAB agreed to withdraw its reference against Sultan Lakhani and various co-accused, including the senior executives of the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan who had extended the loans without proper securities and background checks. The NAB investigators were also asked to stop probe against nine other companies of the same group. The investigators were also told to return the collected evidence to the respective financial institutions. The accused persons who benefited from the NAB deal included Sultan Ali Lakhani, Iqbal Ali Lakhani, Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani, Amin Muhammad Lakhani, Sahibzada Naushad Ahmed, M Muneer Adenwalla, Hassan Ali Merchant, Tasleemuddin Batlay, Aziz Ebrahim (Lakson Group), Anjum Naveed (General Manager M/s Project Development Services), Muhammad Sirajul Hassan (former chief officer at Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan’s regional office in Karachi), Khalid Mehmood Nagra, Syed Mehboob Hussain (office in-charge of the IDBP) and Rehan A Siddiqi (Manager Documentation Department of IDBP, Karachi. NAB officials said that after much pressing the Lakhani brothers had only paid Rs200 million and were now clearly avoiding the payment of remaining Rs1.3 billion. Irfan Iqbal Puri, who used to be a key middleman between the country’s top buyers of petroleum products and the Middle Eastern suppliers, made the single largest payment of Rs235 million to the NAB following his three-month-long interrogation by the NAB investigators, who apparently confronted him with the evidence allegedly showing kickbacks and commissions received from the Middle Eastern suppliers, who allegedly compromised quality and quantity of petroleum products sold to Pakistan.
At the time of his release Puri, NAB officials said, pledged to pay a total sum of Rs300 million, but subsequently he refused to make the final instalment of Rs65 million and instead confronted the NAB with a lawsuit claiming the return of Rs235 million that he had already paid to the NAB. In Puri’s case the NAB downplayed its agreement with him to an extent that no official announcement was made about the plea bargain deal. At the same time, the NAB withheld its evidence and findings against Puri from any public and legal scrutiny, a measure that has now become the strongest argument in the Puri’s case against the NAB. NAB officials said that the plea bargain deals are meant to recover the looted money in exchange for some grace to the accused persons who get the benefit of not going through the public trial and exposure of their misdeeds in public.
But the process is attracting some criticism, as it allows the senior NAB officials to exercise their discretion in settling the amount for the plea bargain. In Irfan Puri, Usman farooqi and Admiral Mansurul Haq cases the money recovered by the NAB may match their ill-gotten wealth, but in some cases some key suspects won their freedom at a cheap cost. For instance Huzoor Buksh Khalwar, a former Karachi Metropolitan director, who was arrested after a NAB investigation found that he had allegedly amassed wealth to the tune of hundreds of millions of rupees, was set free after a brief (according to the NAB standards) three months’ confinement and a nominal payment of Rs16 million. Khalwar was one of the beneficiaries of a Rs600 million octroi fraud unearthed in the KMC in 1998. NAB officials privately acknowledged that the plea bargain deal with Khalwar could not be counted as one the best deals the NAB has struck with the country’s most corrupt bureaucrats. REFERENCE: NAB in tight corner as businessmen refuse to pay dues By Kamran Khan http://www.fact.com.pk/archives/may/feng/nab.htm
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KARACHI: The Independent Media Corporation (Private) Ltd. (Geo TV Network) and the Independent Music Group (SMC Private) have served a legal notice on Sultan Ali Lakhani, the Editor in Chief, Printer and Publisher of the daily Express. The notice was sent for printing false and concocted stories about the deal struck between the Independent Media Group, the Independent Music Group and Pakistan Television over the rights to telecast the upcoming Champions Trophy and World Cup which will be shown on Geo TV’s new sports channel, Geo Super. The notice demands that an apology be published within seven days and be given the same prominence as the original news items.
The news items published in the Express gave the impression that Geo gained a hefty financial profit by striking this deal and that PTV lost heavily in the process. The truth is that had the deal not been struck, the tournaments would have only been beamed on Geo. Geo and PTV signed the agreement in the greater national interest because cable TV is not available in some smaller towns and villages in the country. There are many examples of such collaboration between private and state-owned channels. The same formula was applied in this case too. PTV was given two options and the corporation chose the one that suited it. There was an agreement on this option and a deal was signed. As a result, PTV viewers will now be able to watch these two important tournaments and the corporation will be able to reap profits too. It must be mentioned that a PTV spokesman had pointed out the benefits of the deal and said that it would be a profitable one. The Express in its report on the deal did not approach Geo for its version and failed to mention the PTV spokesman’s statement on the subject which reflects its unprofessional and mala fide intentions.
The reports published in the Express also claimed that PTV would be forced to show the Geo logo, which is simply untrue. It may be mentioned that it was PTV that approached Geo in connection with the agreement. In any case, Geo being such a popular channel does not need the support of PTV to project itself. It is testament to Geo’s popularity that it has won numerous national and international awards in its short existence. This includes an award from the largest and most prestigious TV and radio organisation, The National Broadcasters Association. Geo’s coverage of the recent elections and its ability to show the results earlier than other channels won it plaudits from the Journal of Mass Communications. According to Gallup, Geo is the best and most watched Pakistani satellite channel. The prestigious New York Times has stated that Geo has changed the entire media scene in Pakistan. The Pakistan Advertising Association presented Geo with the best Electronic Mass Media award. Geo also won a special award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. The channel is also the only Pakistani channel to receive the CNN Young Journalist Award. A number of newspapers and channels— including the New York Times, Washington Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Gulf News, Times of India, The Hindu, Aaj Tak, Kyodo, and Al-Jazeera - have made positive references to Geo and have praised its distinctive style.
In view of all these points, we believe that the false, baseless and mala fide reports about Geo are motivated solely by vendetta. The group’s associated newspapers, Jang and The News, have in the past printed stories about the dark deeds of the publisher of The Express which have never been contradicted. Among the news printed were items about the large bank loan defaults, arrest by NAB, fleeing the country, the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee etc. Lakhani was arrested by NAB in connection with certain cases. Among the allegations on which stories were published were the case of taking and defaulting on huge loans for a granite and marble processing plant, tax and excise fraud, hiding foreign properties, the smuggling of 11 containers, causing huge losses to PTCL, etc. There were also reports that Lakhani set up fictitious companies and borrowed huge amounts from banks in this connection. The News, in April 2004 published a story stating that he agreed to pay 1.5 billion rupees worth of loans but only paid 200 million. In July 2006, The News published a story about the PAC proceedings regarding Lakhani’s loan default. It was clear from all these reports that the Lakhanis were spreading their business through public funds and were not paying back loans taken from the banks and other financial institutions, which caused a huge loss to the national exchequer. REFERENCE: Legal notice to Sultan Lakhani for publishing concocted stories Wednesday, October 11, 2006 News Desk http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=3585
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KARACHI: While the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) made an official confirmation to the Lakhani family in Karachi about the arrest of Sultan Ali Lakhani on a wide range of criminal charges Tuesday evening, official word was still awaited until Tuesday night about the whereabouts of Sultan’s younger brother, Amin Lakhani. Leading businessman Amin Lakhani also runs the Karachi operation of the fast food chain, McDonald’s. Beside running the McDonald’s franchise in Karachi, the Lakhani brothers run Lakson Tobacco Company, a textile unit, an internet company called the Cybernet and Century Publications. Sources informed the News Intelligence Unit (NIU) that the Lakhnis are now being questioned on alleged charges that include: questionable loans worth hundreds of crores of rupees for setting up granite and marble processing plants; bank default; evasion of excise duty; concealment of foreign property; links with the smuggling of 11 containers case; causing huge revenue losses to PTCL through illegal termination of long distance calls and financial dealings with Mr. Hakim Ali Zardari. REFERENCE: Lakhani brothers in NAB hands http://www.karachipage.com/news/May_00/051000.html
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Last week Mr. Talat Hussain [LIE with Talat] also wrote an article in Express Newspaper and declared that some people have been targeting him with a nick name “Ghairat Brigade”, and he wrote whatever may come, he {Talat} will not be in “Bayghairat Brigade”. Ok, agreed, very well. Let me refresh the memory of Ghairat Mand Talat Hussain and his cohorts. Talat after quitting PTV had approached ARY TV and joined ARY TV as a Host and Anchor 2003/2004. One cannot imagine that Talat being a “Seasoned” Current Affair Journalist wouldn’t have remembered the below mentioned case of ARY. 159. Asif Ali Zardari ex-MNA (Received kickbacks from SGS PSI Company, Grant of license to ARY Gold). REFERENCE: The accused and accusations Sunday, November 22, 2009 [The News International Jang Group of Newspapers] http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=25713
Yesterday [12-12-2009], Mr. Talat Hussain has struck again by writing a Letter in Daily Express News Paper [rebirth of Irhsad Ahmed Haqqani in Daily Expressnews] which was addressed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani and advised him as to how to run the Government. One wonders as to why these Journalists, Analysts and TV Anchor don't run for Public Office by participating in General Eelections, the letter of Mr Talat Hussain is as under:
Mr Talat Hussain often writes for Express News. Talat is so “Ghairatmand - Honourbale” that he almost “forgot” to remember this as well:"QUOTE"
11 - Sultan Ali Lakhani & family Pakistan Ranking: 9 (tied at 9) Worth: £400m ($800) Industry: Businessman
The Lakhanis are currently having a hard time at the hands of NAB. Sultan Lakhani and his three brothers run this prestigious group and the chain of McDonald’s restaurants in Pakistan. NAB has alleged the Lakhanis of having created phoney companies through worthless directors and raised massive loans from various banks and financial institutions. Sultan is currently abroad after having served a jail term with younger sibling Amin, though the latter was released much earlier. NAB had reportedly demanded Rs 7 billion from Lakhanis, but later agreed they pay only Rs 1.5 billion over a 10-year period. Lakhanis, like their arch-rivals Hashwanis, are the most well-known of all Ismaeli tycoons. Their stakes range from media, tobacco, paper, chemicals and surgical equipment to cotton, packaging, insurance, detergents and other house-hold items, many of which are joint ventures with leading international conglomerates. Though Lakhanis are in turbulent waters currently, the success that greeted them during the last 25 years especially has been tremendous. They have rifts with large business empires despite being known fur their genteel nature. Whether it is any government in Sindh or at the Federal level, Lakhanis have had trusted friends everywhere, though the present era has proved a painful exception. REFERENCE: Pakistans Rich List of 2008 Posted by Teeth MaestroDecember 8, 2007 http://teeth.com.pk/blog/2007/12/08/pakistans-rich-list-of-2008"UNQUOTE"
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NAB in tight corner as businessmen refuse to pay dues By Kamran Khan - Two important business families of the provincial metropolis who had earlier agreed to pay about Rs1.8 billion to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and various banks - an offer that won them an immunity against allegations of financial impropriety and release of their key directors from prisons - have reneged on their promises. The defiant businessmen, senior NAB officials concede, currently constitute the single most important challenge to their drive against white-collar crime in the country. Senior NAB officials have confirmed that Sultanally Lakhani and his three brothers, who partly run and operate the Lackson Group of Companies, and the Mcdonald’s food restaurants in Pakistan, after two initial payments of Rs100 million each, have stopped further payments for an agreed amount of Rs1.5 billion. The NAB had alleged that the Lakhani brothers created phoney companies through worthless directors and raised massive loans from various banks and financial institution. Similarly, Irfan Iqbal Puri, Karachi’s leading supplier of petroleum products from the Gulf countries, has refused to match the agreed amount of Rs300 million after an initial payment of Rs230 million to the NAB. Puri, the NAB had alleged, compromised the quality and quantity of petroleum products in supplies to the Pakistan State Oil and caused huge financial loss to the national exchequer. Sultanally Lakhani, who was jailed for about nine months, and Irfan Puri, who had spent almost an equal amount of time in the NAB and jail custody, have since left the country and have taken up residence in the United States and the United Kingdom. Their attorneys have challenged the signed deals with the NAB claiming that the deals were signed under duress. Circles close to both the persons said that if the "businessmen are harassed in this country you can not stop negative impacts". "We are initiating fresh probe and action against the Lakhanis and Irfan Puri," said a senior NAB official. "The NAB will make sure that they stand by their agreements. We can’t allow people to hoodwink the NAB." A present official of the NAB said that in the past the Bureau had brought historical achievements and brought back large amount of looted money. A big and highly reputed entrepreneur, who knows much about Lakhani’s case, while talking to The News categorically said that it was sheer injustice to those businessman who were law-abiding and doing their business honestly and making some achievements by working hard day and night. He said that a businessman obtained loans of billions of rupees, invested it in his business by some other name, earned a lot of profit, multiplied his wealth, brought new products in the market but declined to return the loan, and when he was caught he was given ten years more to pay back the loan in instalments. What are the laws of this country that when this person again defaulted no one is making it point that till the time he was caught, how much he had expanded his business and how many products he had introduced using these loans, he said. He said that it would not be surprising that he would again be given the facility of repayment in instalments for further many years and these episodes would go on. When asked about remedy, he said that it would be fair that the amount due on such defaulters be secured by confiscating their business units of equivalent value plus interest and selling these in the market. He added that it was injustice with other businessmen and the country to give any concession to such habitual defaulters who were continuously expanding their business and bringing new products in the market and not paying back heavy loans by bringing up the plea that they were in loss in the company for which the loan was taken. "It’s a fraud with the nation," he said.On the other hand, various legal experts are wondering if the NAB had foolproof cases against the accused businessmen, why did the NAB top brass left big legal holes in their deals with the businessmen who somehow managed that the NAB make no official mention of the specific charges against them and the entire evidence collected in the course of investigation be "dismembered". Sultan Lakhani and his brother Amin Lakhani, who is also Honorary Consul-General of Singapore, were arrested on May 8, 2000 by the NAB wing of the ISI. Amin was released after a few days, but Sultan spent another nine months in various NAB detention centres and Adyala prison before his lawyer and the present Attorney-General of Pakistan, Makhdoom Ali Khan, reached an agreement with the then NAB chairman. NAB officials privately concede that in case of Sultanally Lakhani and other key directors of the Lackson Group of Companies, the then NAB leadership had not applied the legally tenable practise of plea bargain and instead had decided to supervise a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Lakhani brothers and various financial institutions. They further said they were looking that how such a deal had been made. Was there a helping hand or was it done innocently?
Sliding down from its initial demand of Rs7 billion, the NAB agreed with Makhdom Ali Khan advocate of the Lakhani brothers that they pay an amount of Rs1.5 billion to the lenders in 10 years. The NAB agreed that in the MOU that the Lakhani brothers would not accept any guilt in the document and instead the MOU would reflect them as buyers of assets of nine companies in exchange for the payment of liabilities. The NAB had found, in its investigation, that all these companies were actually front for the Lakhani brothers, who consistently denied the charge. Furthermore, the NAB agreed to withdraw its reference against Sultan Lakhani and various co-accused, including the senior executives of the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan who had extended the loans without proper securities and background checks. The NAB investigators were also asked to stop probe against nine other companies of the same group. The investigators were also told to return the collected evidence to the respective financial institutions. The accused persons who benefited from the NAB deal included Sultan Ali Lakhani, Iqbal Ali Lakhani, Zulfiqar Ali Lakhani, Amin Muhammad Lakhani, Sahibzada Naushad Ahmed, M Muneer Adenwalla, Hassan Ali Merchant, Tasleemuddin Batlay, Aziz Ebrahim (Lakson Group), Anjum Naveed (General Manager M/s Project Development Services), Muhammad Sirajul Hassan (former chief officer at Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan’s regional office in Karachi), Khalid Mehmood Nagra, Syed Mehboob Hussain (office in-charge of the IDBP) and Rehan A Siddiqi (Manager Documentation Department of IDBP, Karachi. NAB officials said that after much pressing the Lakhani brothers had only paid Rs200 million and were now clearly avoiding the payment of remaining Rs1.3 billion. Irfan Iqbal Puri, who used to be a key middleman between the country’s top buyers of petroleum products and the Middle Eastern suppliers, made the single largest payment of Rs235 million to the NAB following his three-month-long interrogation by the NAB investigators, who apparently confronted him with the evidence allegedly showing kickbacks and commissions received from the Middle Eastern suppliers, who allegedly compromised quality and quantity of petroleum products sold to Pakistan.
At the time of his release Puri, NAB officials said, pledged to pay a total sum of Rs300 million, but subsequently he refused to make the final instalment of Rs65 million and instead confronted the NAB with a lawsuit claiming the return of Rs235 million that he had already paid to the NAB. In Puri’s case the NAB downplayed its agreement with him to an extent that no official announcement was made about the plea bargain deal. At the same time, the NAB withheld its evidence and findings against Puri from any public and legal scrutiny, a measure that has now become the strongest argument in the Puri’s case against the NAB. NAB officials said that the plea bargain deals are meant to recover the looted money in exchange for some grace to the accused persons who get the benefit of not going through the public trial and exposure of their misdeeds in public.
But the process is attracting some criticism, as it allows the senior NAB officials to exercise their discretion in settling the amount for the plea bargain. In Irfan Puri, Usman farooqi and Admiral Mansurul Haq cases the money recovered by the NAB may match their ill-gotten wealth, but in some cases some key suspects won their freedom at a cheap cost. For instance Huzoor Buksh Khalwar, a former Karachi Metropolitan director, who was arrested after a NAB investigation found that he had allegedly amassed wealth to the tune of hundreds of millions of rupees, was set free after a brief (according to the NAB standards) three months’ confinement and a nominal payment of Rs16 million. Khalwar was one of the beneficiaries of a Rs600 million octroi fraud unearthed in the KMC in 1998. NAB officials privately acknowledged that the plea bargain deal with Khalwar could not be counted as one the best deals the NAB has struck with the country’s most corrupt bureaucrats. REFERENCE: NAB in tight corner as businessmen refuse to pay dues By Kamran Khan http://www.fact.com.pk/archives/may/feng/nab.htm
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KARACHI: The Independent Media Corporation (Private) Ltd. (Geo TV Network) and the Independent Music Group (SMC Private) have served a legal notice on Sultan Ali Lakhani, the Editor in Chief, Printer and Publisher of the daily Express. The notice was sent for printing false and concocted stories about the deal struck between the Independent Media Group, the Independent Music Group and Pakistan Television over the rights to telecast the upcoming Champions Trophy and World Cup which will be shown on Geo TV’s new sports channel, Geo Super. The notice demands that an apology be published within seven days and be given the same prominence as the original news items.The news items published in the Express gave the impression that Geo gained a hefty financial profit by striking this deal and that PTV lost heavily in the process. The truth is that had the deal not been struck, the tournaments would have only been beamed on Geo. Geo and PTV signed the agreement in the greater national interest because cable TV is not available in some smaller towns and villages in the country. There are many examples of such collaboration between private and state-owned channels. The same formula was applied in this case too. PTV was given two options and the corporation chose the one that suited it. There was an agreement on this option and a deal was signed. As a result, PTV viewers will now be able to watch these two important tournaments and the corporation will be able to reap profits too. It must be mentioned that a PTV spokesman had pointed out the benefits of the deal and said that it would be a profitable one. The Express in its report on the deal did not approach Geo for its version and failed to mention the PTV spokesman’s statement on the subject which reflects its unprofessional and mala fide intentions.
The reports published in the Express also claimed that PTV would be forced to show the Geo logo, which is simply untrue. It may be mentioned that it was PTV that approached Geo in connection with the agreement. In any case, Geo being such a popular channel does not need the support of PTV to project itself. It is testament to Geo’s popularity that it has won numerous national and international awards in its short existence. This includes an award from the largest and most prestigious TV and radio organisation, The National Broadcasters Association. Geo’s coverage of the recent elections and its ability to show the results earlier than other channels won it plaudits from the Journal of Mass Communications. According to Gallup, Geo is the best and most watched Pakistani satellite channel. The prestigious New York Times has stated that Geo has changed the entire media scene in Pakistan. The Pakistan Advertising Association presented Geo with the best Electronic Mass Media award. Geo also won a special award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. The channel is also the only Pakistani channel to receive the CNN Young Journalist Award. A number of newspapers and channels— including the New York Times, Washington Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Gulf News, Times of India, The Hindu, Aaj Tak, Kyodo, and Al-Jazeera - have made positive references to Geo and have praised its distinctive style.
In view of all these points, we believe that the false, baseless and mala fide reports about Geo are motivated solely by vendetta. The group’s associated newspapers, Jang and The News, have in the past printed stories about the dark deeds of the publisher of The Express which have never been contradicted. Among the news printed were items about the large bank loan defaults, arrest by NAB, fleeing the country, the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee etc. Lakhani was arrested by NAB in connection with certain cases. Among the allegations on which stories were published were the case of taking and defaulting on huge loans for a granite and marble processing plant, tax and excise fraud, hiding foreign properties, the smuggling of 11 containers, causing huge losses to PTCL, etc. There were also reports that Lakhani set up fictitious companies and borrowed huge amounts from banks in this connection. The News, in April 2004 published a story stating that he agreed to pay 1.5 billion rupees worth of loans but only paid 200 million. In July 2006, The News published a story about the PAC proceedings regarding Lakhani’s loan default. It was clear from all these reports that the Lakhanis were spreading their business through public funds and were not paying back loans taken from the banks and other financial institutions, which caused a huge loss to the national exchequer. REFERENCE: Legal notice to Sultan Lakhani for publishing concocted stories Wednesday, October 11, 2006 News Desk http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=3585
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KARACHI: While the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) made an official confirmation to the Lakhani family in Karachi about the arrest of Sultan Ali Lakhani on a wide range of criminal charges Tuesday evening, official word was still awaited until Tuesday night about the whereabouts of Sultan’s younger brother, Amin Lakhani. Leading businessman Amin Lakhani also runs the Karachi operation of the fast food chain, McDonald’s. Beside running the McDonald’s franchise in Karachi, the Lakhani brothers run Lakson Tobacco Company, a textile unit, an internet company called the Cybernet and Century Publications. Sources informed the News Intelligence Unit (NIU) that the Lakhnis are now being questioned on alleged charges that include: questionable loans worth hundreds of crores of rupees for setting up granite and marble processing plants; bank default; evasion of excise duty; concealment of foreign property; links with the smuggling of 11 containers case; causing huge revenue losses to PTCL through illegal termination of long distance calls and financial dealings with Mr. Hakim Ali Zardari. REFERENCE: Lakhani brothers in NAB hands http://www.karachipage.com/news/May_00/051000.html"UNQUOTE"
NOTE: Due to current Judicial Crisis created by GEO/JANG/THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL, many links of The News International which are quoted above are DEAD - The Jang Group has removed all such Links from their website to evade Legal Action from Judiciary.
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