The Lahore High Court here on Monday sought reply from federal secretary law till October 20 in a petition against Law Minister Babar Awan for giving a bogus cheque of Rs 30 million to district bar. The petition was filed by Khalid Tehami, President District Bar Hafizabad through his counsel Mushtaq Ahmed Mohal Advocate. The counsel said Law Minister Babar Awan gave a cheque of Rs 30 million to the bar in May 2010, however, when the bar tried to get it cashed, it was found to be bogus.
Tehami alleged that after the visit of the minister, he, being president of the bar, held a meeting with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, which, according to him, annoyed the minister and thus the payment was stopped. The petitioner contended that this act of the law minister indicated that he has been giving heavy grants to district bars all over Punjab to win sympathies of lawyers for his government to use them against judiciary.
He alleged that the law minister gave grants to the bar associations from the national exchequer to lobby for PPP's government among the legal fraternity. The petitioner prayed to the court to start proceedings against the minister for giving a bogus cheque and cheating the bar.