Public funds: No quick relief on plea seeking audit reports

Petitioner had said that reports were not presented in the PAC

LAHORE: Justice Shahid Waheed of Lahore High Court (LHC) turned down on Friday a request to entertain an application seeking directions for the provincial government to present audit reports related to foreign tours of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The judge held that the applicant had already sought the relief in his main petition. The petitioner had earlier filed an application complaining that audit reports were not presented before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed had moved the application. His counsel said that the auditor general of Pakistan had pointed to massive irregularities in funds reserved for the chief minister’s foreign visits.

He had accused the chief minister of misusing public funds.

\He said the PAC remained dysfunctional as the respondents had failed to produce the audit reports.

He had requested the court to order the provincial government to present audit reports for the years 2014 and 2015 before the PAC.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2016.