The Supreme Court (SC) has disposed of a case relating to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s approval of Rs500 million uplift grant to lawmakers after the finance secretary on Thursday submitted a report denying the supplication of the grant.
The report, signed by Prime Minister Imran Khan and concerning the reported issuance of Rs500 million uplift grant to each Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker, confirmed that not a single lawmaker was given the uplift fund by the incumbent government.
“The finance division has not allocated or handed over monies to any legislature or any person nor has it intended to do so. There is no such provision in the public finance management system,” the report stated.
The petition was being heard by a five-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed.
During the hearing of the case, Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that yesterday someone sent him documents on WhatsApp regarding the release of large funds to the government ally in NA-65 constituency.
“Can funds be given to certain constituencies for road construction?” he questioned. “We are not the enemy, we are the protectors of the people’s money and the constitution,” he added.
“We will dispose of the matter if the grant is being given as per the constitution, law and court orders,” he said and directed the attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) to seek instructions from the government and inform the SC in this regard.
On the occasion, the judge of the apex court also remarked that the premier had spoken against the five-year term being too short, and advised the PM to approach the assembly for an extension if necessary.
Speaking on the occasion, the CJP also observed that the courts are not there to control the prime minister’s office while questioning the authenticity of the documents for the funds case.
Justice Isa a day earlier had questioned Prime Minister Imran’s stance on the grant of development funds to members of the national and provincial assemblies as the SC took up a suo motu case to determine the constitutional status of the move.
The SC judge had noted that a letter submitted by the premier’s principal secretary to the top judicial forum “did not contain the answers to the court’s questions”.
In January, Prime Minister Imran had purportedly announced a grant of Rs500 million for each member of the national and provincial assemblies under sustainable development goals to enable them to carry out development schemes for their voters.
On the occasion, he had asked Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan to update the court on the issue based on the government’s response.
However, the AGP had responded he would update the court after receiving instructions from the government and further reassured that “whatever action is taken will be in the light of the law, Constitution and legal precedent.”
Subsequently, Justice Isa had referred the matter to the top judge for the formation of a bench.
On Wednesday, all provinces submitted written replies to the court except for Sindh. When asked, the Sindh government’s counsel informed the court the provincial government had not given development funds to any lawmakers.
Meanwhile, AGP Khan had told the court the grant of development funds was “linked to the Constitution”, adding that the prime minister knew that “government funds cannot be used wrongly”.
“Either the prime minister should remain firm on what he said or admit he had made a mistake. Why is the prime minister hiding behind his secretary? The entire media published the news and the prime minister is silent,” the Justice Isa had said on the occasion.
AGP Khan had replied if the prime minister “started refuting every news himself, he would not be able to do any other work”.
The bench had ordered the finance secretary to submit a clear answer to the court, directing that the report should also have the premier’s signature on it.
On Tuesday, the apex court had constituted a five-judge bench and served notices on the prime minister’s principal secretary, Cabinet Division secretary, finance secretary, federal and provincial advocate generals, and provincial chief secretaries.
