Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Govt Spent Rs 240 Million On Advertisements In 3 Months: Supreme Court Told

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govt spent Rs 240 million on advertisements in 3 months: Supreme Court told

The Secretary Information Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that the provincial government had spent Rs 240 million on advertisements during last three months.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Mar, 2018 ) :The Secretary Information Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that the provincial government had spent Rs 240 million on advertisements during last three months.

A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the suo moto case on hefty advertisement expenditure by provincial governments.

The KP information secretary told the court that the provincial government had spent Rs1.63 billion on media campaigns since its inception. He submitted the KP government's record of advertisement expenditure over the last three months.

From December 1, 2017 to February 28, 2018, the KP government spent Rs240m on advertisements, none of which carried photographs of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak or PTI chief Imran Khan, he added.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial pointed out that the funds used for advertisements were taken from the national kitty. The chief justice remarked that the court would order the provincial government to return such funds to the exchequer.

He also observed that the government ads should be distributed among media outlets without discrimination and the issue would be examined separately. "We don't differentiate between Jang, The news or Nawa-i-Waqt," he added.

A lawyer representing the All-Pakistan Newspapers Society also said that no provincial government should run an ad campaign using funds from the national kitty. The chief justice also took notice of distribution of development funds among lawmakers by the government.

There were reports that development funds are being doled out by the government, he remarked. He questioned whether giving funds worth millions of rupees close to the general elections could be termed pre-poll rigging and under which the funds were being distributed among the lawmakers.

The court then directed the additional attorney general to inform it of the legality of the move after consulting the government.