Shehbaz appears before top court over appointment of govt officials on high salaries

Not even a fly flies without Shehbaz's order in the province, remarks CJP

LAHORE: Former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday arrived at the Supreme Court's Lahore registry after being summoned by the top court to clarify the appointment of government officers being paid high salaries.

Earlier today, a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar hearing of a suo motu case pertaining to the salary structure of public-sector companies, had summoned the former chief executive.

Previously the CJP had directed the chief secretary to come up with a detailed report on the salaries, perks and privileges being paid to the officers of 56 public-sector companies established by the Punjab government.

During today’s hearing, advocate general Punjab informed the court that Shehbaz was not directly involved in relation to the companies. However, the statement was shot down by the top judge who observed that “not even a fly flies without his [Shehbaz] order in the province.”

In November 2017, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initiated inquiry into multiple charges against the 56 public limited companies.

“All legal formalities should be completed first, including collection of sufficient evidence without hampering routine work of these companies, before taking [any] action,” NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal was quoted as directing the director general of the bureau’s Lahore branch in a statement.

The NAB chairman issued these orders after receiving multiple public complaints of alleged corruption, irregularities, waste of public resources, absence of transparency in tendering various projects and regular audits, favoritism in appointments and inordinate delay in completion of different projects.