Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday suspended the notification of reduction in the prices of naan and roti in the federal capital till May 6.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri heard the petition of the president of Nanabi Welfare Association.

On this occasion, the petitioner's lawyer Umar Ejaz Gilani and representatives of the district administration appeared in the court.

The representative district administration told the court that the law had been amended, empowering the DCOs.

Barrister Umar Ijaz took the stand that the federal price control was under the supervision of the Prime Minister.

The representative district administration told the court that the Controller General of Prices and Supplies will be appointed by the Federal Government. The Assistant Controller will be appointed by the authorized officer of the Government, and the Controller General has been empowered to determine the prices.

Barrister Umar Ijaz argued that the power of the Controller General is not under Section-III, which the notification issued, no reference was made in the notification.

The court inquired if 120 grams of roti in Punjab costs 25 rupees, to which the representative district government said that it is another provincial government.

Barrister Umar Ijaz Gilani said that flour is expensive here and rent is high here.

The representative district government requested the court that the concerned officer is not present, they need adequate time to present appropriate comments.

Justice Tariq Mahmood remarked that they asked sellers about the flour price or they are issuing orders to please people.

The court ordered to suspend the notification till the next hearing, directing the parties to submit detailed answers to the court on the next hearing.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing till May 6.

Islamabad: The framework of the power-sharing formula between the government and the opposition has been prepared on the issue of the formation of National Assembly Committees, after which the negotiations have entered the final stages.

The chairmanship of 26 committees of the National Assembly will be given to the government coalition while the opposition will get the chairmanship of 11 committees. Similarly, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be from the Opposition and the Chairman of the Kashmir Committee will be from the government coalition. The Speaker of National Assembly House will be the Chairman of the Business Advisory Committee.

According to the framework, 13 members in the standing committees and 16 members in the Public Accounts Committee will be from the government alliance. 15 members in the Kashmir Committee, 18 members in the House Business Advisory will be from the government alliance.

The number of opposition members in the Standing Committees of National Assembly, Public Accounts Committee and Kashmir Committee will be seven each.

Apart from this, the chairmanship of 14 committees of the National Assembly will be from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), while chairmen of eight committees will be from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Mutahidda Qoumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) will get two, Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) will get one committee chairmanship each.

The chairmanship of 10 committees will be independent members supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the chairmanship of one committee will be with Jamat-e-Ulema Islami (JUI). Out of 20 members of standing committees, 14 members will be from government, six will be from opposition parties. Each standing committee will include seven members from PML-N, four members from PPP and one member each from PML-Q and MQM-P.

In the standing committee, five independent members of PTI and one member of JUI will be given as committee members. Out of 23 members of PAC, 16 members will be from the government and seven from the opposition. Among 22 members of privilege committee, 15 members will be from the government and seven from the opposition.

In Government Assurances Committee, 11 of the 16 members will be from the government and five from the opposition. Nine of the 13 members of the House and Library Committee will be from the government and four from the opposition. Of the 26 members of the House Business Advisory Committee, 18 will be from the government and eight from the opposition.

Islamabad: The Supreme Court Thursday annulled the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to suspend the Speaker and reinstated Speaker Balochistan Assembly Abdul Khaliq Achakzai.

A three-member bench of Supreme Court headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan held a hearing. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that the ECP looked at 12 polling stations but ignored others.

Justice Aminuddin remarked that the Election Commission had neither conducted an inquiry nor observed any rules. Director General (DG) Law told the court that only those 12 polling stations where high turnout was requested were observed.

On which Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that ECP should have re-enquired the entire constituency, if the Election Commission had done its work, people would not have had to come to court.

The Supreme Court also annulled the Election Commission's order of re-polling at 12 polling stations of PB-51 Chaman.

With the consent of all the candidates, the Supreme Court again sent the matter to the ECP and ordered that the Election Commission hear all the candidates and take a decision within 10 days.

It is pertinent to note that the Election Commission had ordered re-polling on the request of Asghar Khan Achakzai. The Election Commission had withdrawn the notification of the success of the Speaker while ordering re-polling.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Abdul Khaliq Achakzai challenged the Election Commission's decision in the Supreme Court.