Plea against delay in Narowal Expressway disposed of

LAHORE:Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Thursday disposed of a contempt petition over delay in construction of Narowal Expressway after the provincial government said budget had been allocated for the project.

A report filed by the government’s lawyer stated that the work on the project would start after formal approval by the Punjab assembly. The chief justice expressed satisfaction over the report, however, observed that the court could be moved again for contempt if the government failed to fulfill its commitment.

In this case, the chief justice had previously summoned the principal secretary to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar after the government officials failed to satisfy the court. The CJ had also summoned the record of the development schemes launched in Mianwali, DG Khan, Rajanpur and Jampur, the constituencies of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. Shakargargh Bar Association and others had filed the contempt petition seeking action against the government authorities for delaying the expressway project despite a

court’s order.

remand extended: An accountability court on Thursday extended judicial remand of former SSP Junaid Arshad until July 14, an accused of assets beyond means.

The NAB has accused a former police officer of accumulating wealth worth millions of rupees particularly between 2002 and 2008. Junaid is also facing a case of cybercrime in which the FIA has accused him of uploading obscene pictures of his former wife. According to FIA, the accused was an absconder in a case filed against him in 2017. Former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar had ordered then Secretary Interior to arrest the police officer in cybercrime and two other cases. Junaid at that time was serving as Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) deputy inspector general (DIG).