Election-related ads: SHC asks KMC to submit details of money collected

The high court says the funds can be used for payment of employees’ dues.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Friday Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to provide details of funds it has recovered from advertising agencies and political parties during the election campaigns throughout the city.

Headed by Chief Justice Mushir Alam, the bench also issued contempt notice to the administrators of all five district municipal corporations for allegedly defying the court’s order regarding the payment of salaries to their employees.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by KMC workers union against the fact that more than 50,000 of the corporation’s employees had not been paid their salaries and retired ones had not been given their pension.

On Friday, KMC’s lawyer, Bahzad Haider, said the corporation does not let out any site for the advertisement, adding that it is advertisement agencies that display advertisements on hoardings and pay the licence fee.

The bench directed him to provide details of licence fee collected by the corporation for the banners and hoardings displayed by the political parties throughout the city during the election campaigns.

Asking him to provide such detailed report within ten days, the court instructed that the same must contain details as to how many such sites are available in each union council of the city.

The bench directed KMC to ensure the dues of the DMCs and other outstanding payments, including Fire Risk Allowance, be paid by the 10th of each month.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.