The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered federal and provincial governments to submit reports on the use of government-owned vehicles. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar delivered the instructions while heading a three-member bench hearing a case on the use of luxury vehicles by government officials.
The authorities were given 10 days to submit the report. Earlier, the assistant attorney general told the court that the matter fell in the domain of the provincial governments.
CJP remarked that some luxury cars were held under the Saaf Pani and other projects initiated by 56 provincial companies in the Punjab. “27 cars were found [in the use of] the Punjab government; these were hidden away in Ali Complex,” he said.
Addressing the Sindh advocate general, he said, “Where did the 500 cars recovered by the Sindh government go?”
The Punjab advocate general told the court that the provincial government had recovered 201 cars. “We should know which officials can use these cars as millions of rupees are spent on their upkeep,” the chief justice said, adding that the extra cars in the government’s use should be sold and the money used for some bigger cause.
Published in Daily Times, October 17th 2018.