Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is the “most powerful minister” in the federal cabinet, the defence minister has said, adding that he is not answerable to the prime minister on various topics.

In a TV interview, Asif remarked that while Naqvi was the interior minister, he did not seem to be fully incorporated into the cabinet structure. “I have seen Naqvi in only two or three cabinet meetings,” he said.

The defence minister also stated Naqvi had attended Parliament only a handful of times, adding that if the interior minister himself was voicing displeasure with the current system, “then perhaps we should all go home”.

Asif’s words followed Naqvi’s previous comments that Pakistan’s governance system had grown too weak to adequately deal with the country’s difficulties. The interior minister has cautioned that if the current structure remains in place the country could still be dealing with the same challenges ten years down the line.

Naqvi also said that for better governance and for the sake of long-term growth of the country, it has now become necessary to create new administrative divisions or provinces. He said the present structure has become ineffective.

In the second round of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections, unofficial and provisional results have been declared for 19 constituencies, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged as the dominating party by winning 14 constituencies. The PML-N also won all the 10 Punjab-based refugee seats out of the 12 refugee constituencies. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) bagged five constituencies.

Delay of constituency and voting procedure

The second phase of the elections was held in eight constituencies in Muzaffarabad Division and 12 refugee seats. But voting in LA-27 was delayed because election officials and polling materials were unable to get to polling sites owing to bad weather and landslides. As a result, voting at all 196 polling sites in the constituency was deferred.

Results of Muzaffarabad division

PML-N’s Shah Ghulam Qadir secured victory in LA-25 Neelum Valley-I with 18,925 votes, defeating PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed who got 13,596 votes.

In LA-26 Neelum Valley-II, PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed won with 17,466 votes, while Shah Ghulam Qadir of PML-N stood second with 15,494 votes.

PPP’s Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Khan secured 19,792 votes in LA-29 whereas PML-N’s Syed Iftikhar Ali Gillani received 16,413 votes.

In LA-30 Muzaffarabad-IV, PML-N’s Mustafa Bashir Abbasi secured 18,082 votes against PPP’s Mubashir Munir Awan who secured 11,464 votes.

PML-N’s Saqib Majeed Raja won LA-31 Muzaffarabad-V by 24,000 votes, while PPP’s Chaudhry Latif Akbar got 17,000 votes and stood second.

LA-32 Muzaffarabad-VI was won by PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider with 21,156 votes while PPP’s Sahibzada Muhammad Ashfaq Zafar bagged 19,010 votes.

PPP’s Diwan Ali Khan Qamar Chughtai won LA-33 Muzaffarabad-VII with 25,469 votes while PML-N’s Mian Muhammad Rashid got 21,175 votes to come second.

Results for refugee constituencies

In LA-34 Jammu-I, PML-N’s Nasir Hussain Dar bagged 5,682 votes while independent contender Raja Riaz Ahmed got 2,124 votes.

In LA-35 Jammu-II, PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Ismail beat independent Sardar Muhammad Ghayas by bagging 24,318 votes against his 5,965 votes.

LA-36 Jammu-III PML-N Muhammad Ahsan Raza 27,218 PPP Ahsan Ismail 12,980

In LA-37 Jammu-IV, PML-N’s Maryam Javed got 28,547 votes while her rival Usman Aleem of Pakistan Markazi Muslim League got 22,937 votes.

Rana Sanaullah claims PML-N will build AJK administration with public mandate

PML-N’s Zeeshan Ali won LA-38 Jammu-V with 13,132 votes, beating Pakistan Muslim League’s Muhammad Akbar Chaudhry who polled 8,615 votes.

PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Siddique won the LA-39 Jammu-VI seat with 10,981 votes while PPP’s Chaudhry Fakhar Zaman got 5,081 votes.

Refugee places in Kashmir Valley

In LA-40 Kashmir Valley-I, PPP’s Amir Abdul Ghaffar got 2,914 votes while PML-N’s Muhammad Naeem Khan got 325 votes.

In LA-41 Kashmir Valley-II, PML-N’s Muhammad Amir Shah got 1,804 votes and independent candidate Saba Diwan secured 1,523 votes.

In LA-42 Kashmir Valley-III PML-N’s Syed Shaukat Ali Shah won 1,524 votes and PPP’s Muhammad Asim Sharif received 477 votes.

PML-N’s Muhammad Yasin Lone won LA-43 Kashmir Valley-IV with 1276 votes defeating PPP’s Javed Butt who got 663 votes.

In LA-44 Kashmir Valley-V, PML-N’s Muhammad Ahmed Raza Qadri won with 2,308 votes while Mehr-un-Nisa of All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference received 740 votes.

In LA-45 Kashmir Valley-VI, PPP candidate Abdul Majid Khan won with 3,448 votes while All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference’s Khawaja Muhammad Dilawar bagged 823 votes and stood second.

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A minor child’s reasonable needs, the father’s financial capacity, income, and social standing must all be taken into account when determining maintenance, according to a Supreme Court ruling. Interference with maintenance awards made by lower courts is only warranted in cases where the decision is arbitrary, irrational, or illegal.

A plea for leave to appeal was denied by a two-judge panel made up of Justices Irfan Saadat Khan and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, upholding the decision of the Sindh High Court.

The petitioner requested that the minor’s monthly maintenance be increased to Rs40,000, arguing before the court that the child’s father worked as a manager at a textile company in Bangladesh and received a large salary.

The District Judge set the child’s monthly maintenance at Rs. 30,000 with a 15% annual increase when resolving the appeal against the Family Court’s decision, according to the Supreme Court’s comprehensive verdict. The same ruling was later confirmed by the Sindh High Court.

The court noted that in deciding on the maintenance amount, the appellate court and the High Court had carefully considered the father’s salary, financial resources, other family responsibilities, and the child’s requirements. It also stated that the father had to provide for two additional children from his prior marriage.

The Supreme Court reaffirmed in its recent ruling in Muhammad Imran Baqar v. Mst. Zarnain Arzoo (PLD 2026 SC 170) that a father has a moral and legal duty to provide for his children, and that the amount of maintenance must be determined in accordance with the child’s actual needs and the father’s financial resources.

The court determined that the petitioner had not proven any legal error, misinterpretation of the facts, or abuse of judicial power in the lower courts’ rulings. As a result, it rejected the plea and upheld the Sindh High Court’s decision, finding no basis for interfering under Article 185(3) of the Constitution.