LAHORE – The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday issued notice to Punjab ChiefMinister Shehbaz Sharif in case pertaining to the personal advertisement atthe expense of national exchequer and public money.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice ofPakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the suo motu case pertainingto massive spending on advertisements by the provincial governments at theapex court’s Lahore Registry.
In today’s proceedings, the top court ordered the Punjab CM to submit Rs5.5million to the national exchequer for the advertisements carrying hispicture on behalf of the provincial government.
The court also issued notices to Punjab government and All PakistanNewspapers Society (APNS).
Earlier on March 1, the CJP while taking suo motu notice of advertisementssaid that massive advertisements were being given to print and electronicmedia by the provincial governments at the expense of taxpayers’ money andthis was tantamount to pre-poll rigging.
He said that advertisements were run at the expense of national exchequerand public money was being spent for personal publicity which is not theright way to spend the taxpayers’ money.
Justice Saqib Nisar had said that the political leaders must show somecourage to make the payments of these advertisements through their partyfunds.
He pointed out that there was no dearth of money for advertisements butmedicines are not available for the poor at hospitals and there was nodrinking water in as many as 4,000 schools in Sindh.