The Supreme Court on Friday issued directives to the concerned authorities to stop release of funds of Rs 24 billion allocated to 739 non-development projects under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in Balochistan. A two-judge bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja heard a petition filed by Abdul Rahim, a leader of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.
The bench asked the provincial government to constitute an independent commission for a forensic audit of all PSDP schemes undertaken during the last four years in Balochistan. During the course of proceedings, Advocate General Balochistan Amanullah Kinrani told the bench that provincial government had issued a notification regarding the constitution of a three-member commission to investigate the alleged corruption in non-development projects which, he said, was done by the previous government.
On the other hand, the counsel for another applicant, Shakeel Ahmad, objected to the formation of two-member commission. The bench accepted his plea and asked the provincial government to revise the notification to form an impartial commission, which will be required to submit its report within a month. The hearing of the case was adjourned for four weeks.