TOBA TEK SINGH: Following the Supreme Court’s verdict ending lifetime disqualification of parliamentarians, former PML-N MPA Rashida Yaqoob Sheikh from Jhang is likely to be a contestant for Jhang PP 127.

Ms Sheikh, elected as an MPA on a PML-N ticket in 2013, faced disqualification in 2015 after a petition filed by Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, the chief of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, accusing her of concealing her assets.

Expressing her joy after the SC decision, Ms Sheikh stated that she is now eligible to contest the upcoming Feb 8 elections from her constituency.

Her husband, Yaqoob Sheikh, also a contestant, had gone through a series of political affiliations, initially leaving PML-N, then joining the PML-N again after quitting PTI and joining the Istehkam Pakistan Party.

Three weeks ago, both husband and wife rejoined the PML-N and are optimistic about receiving PML-N tickets for the upcoming elections.

APPEAL: Justice Asjad Javed Ghurral of the Lahore High Court Appellate Tribunal accepted the appeals of former PPP provincial minister Haji Muhammad Ishaq and PTI candidates Usama Hamza (son of former late Senator M Hamza) and advocate Zahid Iqbal Bhattaywala.

The appeals were filed against the rejection of their nomination papers for Gojra NA-105. All three have been granted permission to contest in the upcoming election.

BLIND MURDER: The police have cracked a blind murder case, as the woman confessed to being the mastermind behind her husband’s murder.

Muhammad Siddiq, a breakfast vendor from Ashrafabad locality in Samundri, was shot on Aug 27, 2022, near Chak 248-RB in the Roashanwala police station area of Faisalabad.

CPO retired Capt Muhammad Ali Zia assigned the investigation SSP to see the murder case. The investigation led to the arrest of Nazia Bibi, the widow of Siddiq. She said that hat she, along with her daughter (from her ex-husband) Khadeeja and four accomplices – Haider, Hamza, Husain, and Usman – planned the murder.

The motive behind this act was the deceased’s decision to transfer his property to his children from his first wife rather than to Nazia.

ACCIDENT: A woman died and her son was injured when a pick-up collided with their bicycle on Hafeez Park Road.

Razia Bibi from Geelani Town in Gojra was riding with her son Ali when the accident occurred. Both victims suffered severe injuries and were rushed to the Gojra THQ hospital.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024