Foreign Aid: DAG summoned again

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has again issued notice to the federal government in a petition questioning the functioning of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Pakistan after no lawyer representing the government turned up for the hearing. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed adjourned the case for June 14. Petitioner Advocate Salman Akram Raja named the Interior Ministry as the respondent. He asked the court to issue directions to the federal government to state under what law USAID is active in Pakistan and the purposes of its activities. He said the government must also explain whether USAID is working under the supervision of the Pakistan government or as an autonomous body. The judge summoned DAG Ilyas Kashmiri and asked him to seek instructions from the respondent ministry.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.