Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday observed that government advertisements having pictures of politicians won’t be allowed.

Hearing a suo motu case regarding political media campaigns on taxpayers’ expense, the CJP emphasised that the court was not ending the flow of advertisements to the newspapers but only halting a ‘specific category’ of advertisements. He stressed that the funds spent on ad campaigns belonged to the treasury, adding that the court wants to end wastage of public funds. “We have nothing against the advertisements, but they should not be for personal publicity,” he remarked.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Secretary Qaiser Alam informed the bench that the provincial government had spent Rs 1.63 billion on media campaigns in its five-year tenure ending in a couple of months. Responding to a court query, he revealed that the provincial government had spent a little over Rs 204 million on advertisements during the last three months.

The chief justice inquired how many ads carried the photo of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. The information secretary replied that there was no government policy regarding printing of chief minister or party chief’s pictures on advertisements. The court then summoned the provincial government’s last one-year record of advertisements to ascertain if pictures of political leaders were published on government ads. “Action will be taken if any misstatement is seen and the KP government will be personally responsible for any misstatement,” the CJP warned.

“We will see from whom money [spent] for personal promotion should be recovered,” the CJP said, directing the counsels for All Pakistan Newspapers Society and Pakistan Broadcasters Association to submit their recommendations regarding the media ads.

The CJP said no political campaigns on public expense will be accepted and if the government wants to publish an ad, they should use their personal funds. “Use your personal funds if you want to promote yourself,” he said. Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already promised to deposit Rs 55 million, he added.

Over advertisements in Sindh, the CJP said that Benazir Bhutto’s picture should not appear on advertisements. “Benazir is a martyr and she is respectable to us,” he said, adding pictures of Bilawal Bhutto and CM Sindh should also not appear on ads.

SC summons NAB over harassment of drugs watchdog staff: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday summoned the National Accountability Bureau’s prosecutor general in the counterfeit drugs case.

The CJP was hearing a complaint lodged by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) with the Supreme Court’s Human Rights Cell against Everest Pharmaceuticals for manufacturing fake drugs.

According to the complaint, the owner of the company, Chaudhry Usman, used his connections and influence to harass DRAP staff.

A three-member bench hearing the case today was informed that NAB had withdrawn the notice against the drugs watchdog and the proceedings against Everest Pharmaceuticals had been closed.

The additional prosecutor general of the bureau informed the apex court that the notice to the chief executive officer of DRAP was issued before the court’s order.

“The notice was issued through a misunderstanding,” the NAB additional prosecutor general informed the bench, to which the CJP responded that it was equivalent to undermining the authority of the court.

The bench then ordered the bureau to complete a probe into the case and submit the report to the court. An order to probe into assets owned by NAB’s officer Amir Marth was also issued during the hearing.

“Any such actions will not be tolerated in the future. Please inform the NAB chairman of my displeasure and annoyance on this incident,” said the CJP Nisar. He also issued directives to the bureau to submit the complete record of its proceedings against DRAP to the Supreme Court.

“Anyone who takes any action against DRAP without the Supreme Court’s permission will not be pardoned,” he said.

He directed the director general of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) to submit a report on the harassment of DRAP officers within fifteen days and submit a complaint against DRAP Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Riffat Mukhtar and others who were involved in the harassment case.

CJP Nisar also remarked that [corrupt officials] collude against anyone trying to honestly perform their duties and adjourned the hearing till March 13 (today).

Published in Daily Times, March 13^th 2018.