ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa questioned why public money is being spent on advertisements for the aggrandizement of prominent political personalities.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, on Thursday, heard the case related to the distribution of funds to lawmaker in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The chief justice observed that even the worst political opponents are on one page regarding self-promotion in public projects.
The attorney general and the advocate generals representing the federal government and the provinces informed the bench that they would convey the court’s concern to their respective governments. The chief justice directed the federal and the provincial government to submit affidavits in this regard on next date of hearing.
During the proceeding, Justice Faez also expressed concern over the engagement of a large number of lawyers by the governments to represent them before the courts. The chief justice inquired from Advocate General Sindh how many law officers are in Sindh. He replied 80.
The chief justice then remarked that there is a battalion of law officers in Sindh, while no permanent law officer in Islamabad. The CJP observed that the Punjab, which is a big province population-wise has 86 law officers, while Balochistan has 18, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 40.
The advocate general Punjab told that the incumbent provincial government has decided to reduce this number from 86 to 66. The chief justice noted that every law officer in Sindh is getting Rs55,000 as salary, adding it means every month Rs40 million go out of Sindh people’s pockets for the salary of law officers.
Justice Faez said despite larger number of law officers, the Court is not getting satisfactory assistance from the law officers of Sindh, as they appear through video link, and they cannot hear them properly. The chief justice said they do not like to interfere in government affairs, but tell us what is the fault of the poor people. “We want to strengthen democracy in the country,” he remarked.
The case is adjourned for two weeks.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024