Fake media campaign: LHC issues notices
LAHORE: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court on Thursday sought reply from the authorities concerned and issued notice to the Transparency International Pakistan on a petition against unlawful approval of a summary of Rs961 million.
Saeed Ahmed Cheema, a citizen, has filed the petition and made the director general of the Press Information Department, Ministry of Water and Power, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, principal information officer of PID, Transparency International Pakistan (TIP), and Midas Private Limited, advertisement agency, as respondents in the petition.
The judge issued notice to Midas and the TIP for their reply and asked a deputy attorney general to ensure parawise comments from the respondent government functionaries.
The petitioner, through Muhammad Ashraf Hussain advocate, submitted that the TIP in a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan has pointed out that former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, seven days after the expiry of his constitutional period as a PM, illegally, unlawfully and without authority approved a contract for Rs961 million on account of a forged/bogus publicity campaign which was turned down in July 2012 by the secretary Ministry of Water and Power.
The petitioner said that according to the letter Mr Ashraf had approved a contract of Rs961 Million for Midas without the adopting the settled procedure laid down in Public Procurement Rules, 2004. This contract is a part of the publicity contract/campaign of Rs1,63,70,00,000/- of the Pepco and National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC).
The petitioner further said that the illegal, unauthorised and unlawful approval and process for a bogus/fraud publicity campaign by the respondents was liable to be set aside, initiation of high powered investigation by a reputed investigation agency, legal criminal proceedings against those responsible for the fraud which might deprive the national exchequer for Rs961 million and the recovery of the amount, if already drawn.
He prayed to the court to declare the approval of the sanction of Rs961 million summary as illegal. He also prayed for criminal proceedings against the responsible be initiated to award them strict punishments in accordance with law and the constitution.
Source: The News
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