ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court’s (SC) Justice Ayesha Malik on Tuesday challenged victim-blaming assumptions that suggested that women ‘invite’ rape and called for such attitudes to be re-examined.

The judge was addressing participants at the launch of a bench book on the adjudication of rape cases for judges of gender-based violence (GBV) courts in Islamabad. The event was held in collaboration between the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR), the Legal Aid Society (LAS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Delivering the keynote address at the event, Justice Malik expressed concern that sexual violence had become so routine that it no longer provoked sufficient outrage.

She challenged assumptions that blamed female victims of sexual violence by suggesting that they ‘invite’ rape, calling for a fundamental re-examination of attitudes towards women that allowed such assumptions to persist.

The bench book provides a practical reference to support fair trials and judicial decisions grounded in law and evidence, according to a statement by the MoHR. It was launched alongside a national study on low conviction rates in GBV cases.

The two publications address connected challenges across the criminal justice process, the statement said.

Director general of the MoHR’s Child Protection Institute, Rabeea Hadi, presented the study on low conviction rates, prepared by the ministry alongside the Senate’s Functional Committee on Human Rights. The study examined “where cases falter, from the first report through investigation, medico-legal examination, prosecution and trial”.

Meanwhile, LAS Director of Gender, Inclusion and Development, Advocate Maliha Zia, presented the structure of the bench book and its intended use during court proceedings.

The bench book brings together applicable law and judicial guidance in 10 chapters following the sequence of a trial, and supports judges in assessing evidence that is placed before them, according to the rights ministry.

The chairperson of the Special Committee on the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021, Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, addressed the practical application of the act.

“The bench book takes what Parliament enacted, together with what the superior courts have held, and places it within reach of the judge who has to apply it,” she said.

LAS Chief Executive Officer Barrister Haya Emaan Zahid illustrated the survivor’s journey by highlighting the pressures survivors face and the need to assess delayed reporting, gaps in medical evidence and family power dynamics in their proper context.

UNFPA Pakistan’s Representative Dr Luay Shabaneh linked fair adjudication to Pakistan’s international human rights commitments, noting: “A judgment that is correctly reasoned protects everybody in and outside the courtroom.”

The British High Commission’s Senior Governance Adviser Mary Kate Thomson highlighted that public trust was shaped by how everyday cases were handled, and influenced whether survivors came forward.

Opening the event, Abdul Khalique Shaikh, secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights, affirmed the ministry’s custodianship of both documents.

“The honest position is that the word on paper and the practice on the ground have not yet converged,” he said, calling for attention to be drawn to how legal protections were delivered in practice.

The event brought together the judiciary, prosecutors, parliamentarians, senior government officials, legal practitioners and development partners, “with a shared focus on translating legal protections into consistent practice throughout the justice process”, the ministry’s statement said.

A total of 3,172 GBV cases were reported across Pakistan during the first half of 2026, including 18 cases involving transgender persons, according to Sahil’s Six Months Cruel Numbers Report (January-June 2026).

The report, available with Dawn, documented 644 murders, 514 cases of torture, 462 abductions, 363 suicides, 280 rapes, 175 injuries, 132 honour killings, and 21 other crimes, including harassment, gang rape and pornography.

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday warned that drug prices must not be increased without valid justification and ordered a review of the existing pricing formula to ensure medicines are priced fairly without creating unnecessary hurdles for patients, importers or the pharmaceutical industry.

Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema, who chaired a meeting of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), directed officials to expedite the processing of pending drug-pricing cases after being briefed that their case-by-case evaluation was almost complete.

The minister appreciated the progress and acknowledged the efforts of Climate Change Minister Dr Musadik Malik and Drap officials in completing the evaluation.

Health Secretary Momin Agha, Drap Chief Executive Officer Dr Obaidullah Malik and other senior officials also attended the meeting.

The meeting was also informed that sufficient quantities of the trivalent influenza vaccine recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) were available in the market.

Drap had withdrawn the hardship case relating to the vaccine as its prices were controlled in the international market.

Officials told the meeting that Drap was reviewing the existing drug-pricing formula and examining provisions that could hinder the determination of fair and accurate prices.

Cheema suggested that Drap consider subscribing to specialised international databases on drug prices to strengthen independent assessment and provide more reliable benchmarks for pricing decisions.

“Public facilitation should remain the government’s top priority,” he emphasised, adding that any increase in medicine prices without valid justification was unacceptable.

The minister said price comparisons with other countries could provide useful benchmarks, but stressed the need for independent checks and balances in the pricing process.

Cheema ordered that the pricing mechanism should remain people-centred while avoiding unnecessary barriers for importers and pharmaceutical companies.

Pharma industry’s perspective

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) urged the government to engage industry in the formula review so that the outcome could be workable and sustainable.

PPMA Vice Chairman Usman Shaukat told Dawn that the pharmaceutical industry fully shared the government’s objective that medicines must remain affordable and accessible to every Pakistani.

“No responsible manufacturer seeks an unjustified price increase, and we welcome Senator Ahad Cheema’s direction to expedite pending pricing cases and to review the pricing formula. A fair, transparent and predictable mechanism serves patients and industry alike,” he said.

“However, affordability and availability go hand in hand. The real threat to patients is not a justified price adjustment but a medicine disappearing from the shelf.”

Shaukat noted that products become unviable when the cost of active ingredients, packaging, energy, freight and compliance rises — most of which is imported and relies on the dollar — and prices remain frozen for years.

“Manufacturers are then forced to stop production, which creates shortages and pushes patients towards costlier imported alternatives, smuggled stock or spurious medicines,“ he explained.

Shaukat said that the industry supports the use of international benchmarks and independent databases, provided comparisons account for the cost of doing business within Pakistan, high financing costs, exchange-rate exposure and the fact that Pakistani medicine prices are already among the lowest in the region.

“Benchmarks should be a tool for fairness, not a ceiling that ignores input costs,” he highlighted.

“PPMA proposes that the revised formula include a clear, time-bound and rules-based mechanism, including periodic CPI and cost-linked adjustments, so that hardship cases do not pile up and decisions are not delayed for years,” Shaukat added.

• Spox rejects reports about core committee being ‘sidelined’
• ‘Strengthening’ of parliamentary body suggested, but not decided, says Panjutha

ISLAMABAD: Amid a deluge of reports suggesting a change in the party’s decision-making structure, the PTI on Sunday rejected the notion that its core committee had been ‘sidelined’, or its powers re-designated to another body.

Sheikh Waqas Akram, the party’s central information secretary, said the core committee, the political com­mittee and the parliamentary party were separate forums, each with their own, distinct responsibilities.

Organisational and political decisions fell within the remit of the core and political committees, while the parliamentary party dealt with legislative and parliamentary issues.

He said the parliamentary party’s recommendations were given due consideration and could be referred to the relevant committees, adding that final authority over all decisions rested with PTI founder Imran Khan, who had delegated powers to the committees.

PTI leader Naeem Haider Panjutha told Dawn that during a meeting, Bar­rister Ali Zafar had suggested stren­gthening the parliamentary committee, but it was just a recommendation and no such decision was made.

“Imran Khan had entrusted the political committee with the authority to make decisions, while directing that the core committee should also be… taken into confidence before decisions were finalised. The core committee had a large membership, which made decision-making difficult. That was one of the reasons for forming the political committee — to facilitate decisions and reduce the chances of discussions being leaked,” he said.

He said that there was also a proposal to include heads of the party’s organisational bodies in the political committee.

“Subsequently, the mandate for the movement and negotiations was given to Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas, while Sohail Afridi was entrusted with the authority to lead the street movement. How can any change be made without Imran Khan’s approval?” he questioned.

Furthermore, the PTI also rejected a statement attributed to PTI interim chief Barrister Gohar Ali Khan suggesting that the KP chief minister could have avoided detention by staying in Mardan but he travelled to Peshawar as part of a “pre-planned master plan”.

Imran, Bushra’s ‘ordeal’

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the party condemned the prolonged detention of its founder and his wife, the denial of their fundamental and constitutional rights, and the use of state machinery to intimidate political opponents.

The party warned that continued disregard for constitutional safeguards, due process and the sanctity of private homes was setting an alarming precedent that could threaten rights and freedoms of all citizens.

In a statement, Mr Akram claimed that Imran Khan had spent 1,177 days in detention at Adiala Jail, including 356 days in solitary confinement, while Bushra Bibi had remained behind bars for more than 911 days.

He said that the prolonged detention of both, restrictions on their meetings with family members, lawyers and party leaders, and growing concerns about Mr Khan’s health and medical care required immediate attention.

He demanded that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi be granted all their legal, fundamental and constitutionally guaranteed rights, including regular meetings with family members, lawyers and the party leadership.

He called for appropriate medical care under the supervision of Imran Khan’s personal physician and a comprehensive examination by qualified medical specialists.

He also condemned the continued detention of Imran Khan’s sisters, despite the completion of their reported 30-day detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law.

He demanded their immediate release, along with that of detained PTI leaders, elected representatives and party workers, adding that preventive detention must not become an instrument for punishing political dissent or silencing opposition voices.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The capital’s police have introduced a new leave policy to ease difficulties faced by officers and officials in obtaining leave and ensure, for the first time, that all personnel get at least one day of weekly rest, it emerged on Sunday.

According to an order issued by the Islamabad inspector general (IG), dated Oct 23 and available with Dawn, the policy delegates leave-sanctioning powers to officers at different levels and supersedes all previous instructions, including the leave policy issued in 2022.

The policy stipulates that at least one day of weekly rest must be provided to every officer and official, without counting it as leave.

Under the new rules, male police employees will ordinarily be entitled to 10 days’ marriage leave, while female personnel will be allowed one month, subject to approval by the competent authority.

“Officers and officials belonging to remote districts of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Chitral, Gilgit-Baltistan and erstwhile Fata, may opt for either one day of weekly rest or seven days’ rest after every 45 days of duty, or 14 days’ rest after every 90 days of duty,” the order read.

The policy places a 10 per cent ceiling on the number of personnel who can take casual leave at one time, while the combined limit for earned and ex-Pakistan leave is 3pc of the strength of a unit or office.

It also provides for maternity or paternity and medical leave, delegating powers for sanctioning such leaves according to rank.

Police personnel appearing in Central Superior Services or Provincial Civil Service examinations can be granted up to 20 days’ leave, while those appearing in interviews may receive up to 15 days, subject to approval.

However, the order clarified that leave cannot be claimed as a matter of right and may be refused or cancelled by the competent authority in the interest of the department or because of official exigencies.

The new policy has been prepared in consultation with officers of different ranks, with suggestions for further improvement invited through the proper channel.