ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif has approached the Supreme Court with a request to dispose of a case against him regarding issuance of media advertisements about Kasur district, claiming that whatever he did as chief minister of Punjab was in good faith.

He also enclosed a cheque for Rs5.5 million payable to the government of Punjab, along with an application he filed on Monday since the cheque he presented earlier on March 9 this year had expired.

The application was moved before the Supreme Court through his counsel Shahid Hamid and Ayesha Hamid in response to an SC notice of March 8 asking Mr Sharif as to why Rs5.5m spent on a paid advertisement about Kasur district should not be borne by the former chief minister out of his own pocket.

The court is seized with a matter regarding the issuance of the advertisement in an allegedly biased and non-transparent manner by the Punjab government to the print and electronic media.

Says the advertisement was issued in good faith and that he never had any intention of benefiting either his person or party

The application insisted that there was no violation of any law, rule, regulations or guidelines and that all was done in good faith. The applicant never had any intention of benefiting either his person or party, Mr Sharif contended.

Earlier, the Punjab government stated that the publication of advertisements bearing pictures of the prime minister, the president, chief minister, governor and members of parliament has been a common practice in the country and no law, rule, regulation or guideline prohibits this practice and that the advertisement in question was published in good faith.

In its previous reply, the provincial government had stated that it was committed to transparency in the use of public funds.

Mr Sharif stated he had adhered to a long-standing practice of keeping the people updated about the progress in execution of important projects.

“Moreover, I never saw or approved the advertisement before its release.”

The former chief minister reiterated that the then government did everything in good faith and in accordance with the prevailing practice as the fresh guidelines for advertisements were approved by the Supreme Court on April 4 — almost one year after the completion of its five-year term by the PML-N government. He added that a suo motu case was disposed of on Aug 15.

The applicant recalled that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s forest and environment department published an advertisement in the Peshawar edition of daily Aaj on Nov 12 last year that carried pictures of the PTI president and the KP chief minister.

Since the applicant (Mr Sharif) did not want to pursue the matter further, a fresh cheque for Rs5.5m was attached with the application.

Housing societies

Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the Supreme Court on Monday that 6,000 unregistered or illegal, ghost or paper housing colonies were operating in the country. Of these, 4,680 exist in Punjab, 967 in Sindh, 221 in Balochistan, 120 in KP and 12 in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

Likewise, 2,767 registered and licensed housing societies are operating in the country. Of them, 711 are cooperative societies whereas 2,056 are registered companies.

Punjab has 1,188 legal housing societies, Sindh 1,380, KP 78, Balochistan 37 and ICT 84.

The forensic audit of 701 housing societies on the orders of the Supreme Court has been completed by the FIA so far. Of these 646 are in Punjab, 16 in Sindh, 29 in KP, seven in Balochistan and three in ICT.

The FIA said unlicensed housing societies were selling plots illegally and even supplying electricity to residents through agriculture connections. They indulge in marketing through electronic media and billboards.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018