Lahore (Staff Report): The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to pay Rs 5.5 million back to the national exchequer for a newspaper advertisement on behalf of the Punjab government but carrying his picture.
A three-member bench of the SC, headed by the Chief Justice (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, heard the suo motu case regarding hefty spending on advertisements by provincial governments.
that Rs120m worth advertisements were posted by the government in one month.
"Rs120m in one month amounts to Rs1.5 billion worth of advertisements in a year," Justice Nisar noted. The CJP then inquired about a particular ad put bearing the picture of Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The official responded that Rs 5.5 million was paid for the advertisement.
CJP remarked that the same amount of money would have brought a huge chunk of medicines. He further directed provincial chief minister to submit Rs 5.5 million to the national exchequer.
The SC then ordered the Punjab government, PML-N, the All Pakistan Newspapers Society and Punjab chief minister to submit their replies in the case.
