‘Meeting with corps commander’: LHC CJ seeks explanation from Punjab CS for skipping appearance

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan Tuesday sought a written explanation from Punjab Chief Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik for skipping his previous appearance in a case on the pretext that he was busy in a meeting with the corps commander.

The chief justice was hearing a petition by Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), seeking recovery of the outstanding payment from the government. At the previous hearing Punjab Secretary for Information Raja Jahangir had appeared before the court. However, the chief justice summoned the chief secretary when found the information secretary trying to twist the facts about unpaid dues to the television channels under the head of advertisements. The court was informed that the chief secretary was busy in a meeting with the corps commander and the chief justice issued a notice to the secretary defence, requiring complete record, agenda and the decisions taken at that meeting. On Tuesday, director legal of the defence ministry appeared before the court, along with a report, which showed that there was no meeting of the corps commander with the chief secretary on the said date.

On this, the LHC chief justice observed that one of them was misleading the court: either the chief secretary or the defence ministry. The chief justice warned of dire consequences if any of them found to be untrue.

The CJ observed that the court normally dealt with such issues casually, but now it had become a serious matter. The hearing was put off for a date to be fixed after Eidul Fitr, and the chief secretary was directed to submit his written explanation.

The PBA had pleaded that the non-payment of the dues had been causing financial problems for the television channels as the majority of them were unable to pay salaries to their workers on time. The PBA counsel, during the last hearing, contradicted the claim of the information secretary about the outstanding amount.