Public expenditure: Petition against ‘VIP culture’ referred to CJ
Identical petition filed by Hafiz Saeed pending before LHC.
The presidency, Prime Minister’s House, Governor’s Houses, CM’s Houses, Ministers’ Enclave and “palaces of all state functionaries” should be declared a violation of the principle of social justice, says petitioner. PHOTO: lhc.gov.pk
LAHORE:
Justice Sheikh Imtiaz of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday referred a petition against ‘VIP culture’ to the chief justice and recommended that a larger bench be set up to deal with the matter.
The petition was filed by the Lawyers Foundation through Syed Feroze Shah Gilani, who is an office-bearer of the foundation.
An identical petition, calling for curbs on public spending on transport, accommodation and other perks for elected officials and bureaucrats, had been filed by Jamatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed through the same lawyer. That petition is pending before the LHC.
The petitioner submitted that public functionaries were “living like kings and princes in palatial government houses”, which went against the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) as well as the Constitution.
He said Pakistan’s rulers built air-conditioned stables for their horses and gave them jam to eat, while many ordinary citizens sifted through garbage to get food. The government spent Rs1 million per day on the staff, household and allowances of the president, Rs1.2 million on the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Rs2 million per day on the Senate, Rs4 million per day on the National Assembly and Rs200 million per day on the Cabinet Secretariat, he said.
He claimed that Pakistan was printing Rs3 billion per day in cash and that was why the inflation rate was so high. He said over the past four years, public debt had risen from Rs6 trillion to Rs12 trillion, putting every man, woman and child in the country in debt to the tune of Rs61,000 each.
The presidency, Prime Minister’s House, Governor’s Houses, CM’s Houses, Ministers’ Enclave and “palaces of all state functionaries” should be declared a violation of the principle of social justice, he said.
The petitioner argued that the grant of VIP and VVIP status violated the constitutional provisions for equality and principles of democracy as enunciated by Islam. He said the closing of roads for VIPs was a violation of fundamental rights.
He said that the court should direct the government to abandon “luxurious living” in light of Article 38(b) of the Constitution. Schools like Aitchison College in Lahore must open their gates to the children of the poor and the children of the rich and the poor must sit in the same class room and study the same syllabus, he said. No privileges of any kind, including free electricity, gas or petrol, should be provided to any person from the public exchequer, he said.
The petitioner asked the court to direct the respondents including the federal law secretary, the interior secretary, the Punjab chief secretary, the president and the prime minister to follow the example of state functionaries in the UK, who travelled in buses and trains.
The petitioner said that David Cameron used to ride a bicycle to the UK parliament before he became prime minister and only switched to using an official car because of security concerns. London Mayor Boris Johnson also went to work by bicycle, he said.
“Even though they are not Muslims they can be deemed to be followers of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh),” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2013.
Justice Sheikh Imtiaz of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday referred a petition against ‘VIP culture’ to the chief justice and recommended that a larger bench be set up to deal with the matter.
The petition was filed by the Lawyers Foundation through Syed Feroze Shah Gilani, who is an office-bearer of the foundation.
An identical petition, calling for curbs on public spending on transport, accommodation and other perks for elected officials and bureaucrats, had been filed by Jamatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed through the same lawyer. That petition is pending before the LHC.
The petitioner submitted that public functionaries were “living like kings and princes in palatial government houses”, which went against the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) as well as the Constitution.
He said Pakistan’s rulers built air-conditioned stables for their horses and gave them jam to eat, while many ordinary citizens sifted through garbage to get food. The government spent Rs1 million per day on the staff, household and allowances of the president, Rs1.2 million on the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Rs2 million per day on the Senate, Rs4 million per day on the National Assembly and Rs200 million per day on the Cabinet Secretariat, he said.
He claimed that Pakistan was printing Rs3 billion per day in cash and that was why the inflation rate was so high. He said over the past four years, public debt had risen from Rs6 trillion to Rs12 trillion, putting every man, woman and child in the country in debt to the tune of Rs61,000 each.
The presidency, Prime Minister’s House, Governor’s Houses, CM’s Houses, Ministers’ Enclave and “palaces of all state functionaries” should be declared a violation of the principle of social justice, he said.
The petitioner argued that the grant of VIP and VVIP status violated the constitutional provisions for equality and principles of democracy as enunciated by Islam. He said the closing of roads for VIPs was a violation of fundamental rights.
He said that the court should direct the government to abandon “luxurious living” in light of Article 38(b) of the Constitution. Schools like Aitchison College in Lahore must open their gates to the children of the poor and the children of the rich and the poor must sit in the same class room and study the same syllabus, he said. No privileges of any kind, including free electricity, gas or petrol, should be provided to any person from the public exchequer, he said.
The petitioner asked the court to direct the respondents including the federal law secretary, the interior secretary, the Punjab chief secretary, the president and the prime minister to follow the example of state functionaries in the UK, who travelled in buses and trains.
The petitioner said that David Cameron used to ride a bicycle to the UK parliament before he became prime minister and only switched to using an official car because of security concerns. London Mayor Boris Johnson also went to work by bicycle, he said.
“Even though they are not Muslims they can be deemed to be followers of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh),” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2013.