Money matters: ‘Rs30.7 million spent on PM’s visit’

LAHORE: The federal government on Thursday told Lahore High Court that Rs30.7 million was spent on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to New York. A deputy attorney general told the court that the parliament had approved a fund for foreign tours of the prime minister. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah at a previous hearing had threatened the government with fines if details of the expenses were not submitted. The judge remarked that the court would see if it had the jurisdiction to question funds approved by the parliament.  The judge adjourned hearing for a week as the petitioner’s counsel did not appear. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafree had filed a petition challenging the prime minister’s foreign tours. He said Sharif had stayed at a hotel which cost Rs800,000 a night. The petitioner requested the court to put the prime minister and his family’s names on the exit control list and stop them from misusing public money on foreign travel. He also sought psychiatric evaluation of the prime minister, saying that Prime Minister Nawaz had embarrassed the country several times by taking local food to international tours and offering it to world leaders.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2014.