PTI urges CJP to take notice of corruption in Punjab govt projects

• Shafqat Mehmood says PTI, PPP in contact for caretaker set up

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar to take suo-moto notice of corruption committed by the Punjab government in various development projects.

Addressing a press conference at the party’s chairman secretariat in Garden Town on Sunday, PTI’s anti-corruption and accountability committee head Shafqat Mehmood said that the CJP should order the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate irregularities in metro bus projects and purchase of medicines at high prices by the Punjab government.

“Billions of rupees have been looted in the garb of purchasing medicines and corruption of Rs6 billion has been committed in Rawalpindi metro bus project,” the PTI leader alleged, adding that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government purchased drugs at a lower price than Punjab for government hospitals.

Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, MPA Aslam Iqbal, Ayesha Chaudhry and Rana Ahmed were also present on the occasion.

Shafqat further alleged that huge corruption in the schemes of Punjab government has exposed tall claims of Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif about good governance, who is spending a huge budget on his personal publicity from national kitty. He alleged that the Punjab government purchased Amoxicillin suspension syrup at a cost of Rs60 while the KP government purchased the same medicine of the same brand for just Rs33, pointing out a difference of about 50 per cent.

The PTI leader said that the report of the auditor general found irregularities of billions in Rawalpindi metro bus project, adding that public money had been looted by the inefficient and incompetent rulers of Punjab and their cronies.

To a question, MNA Shafqat Mehmood said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, has contacted PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and it is expected that both the leaders will meet anytime soon. He added that Shah Mehmood will recommend the name of the caretaker prime minister to Khursheed Shah on behalf of PTI.

Speaking on the occasion, Mehmoodur Rasheed said that the Punjab government did not allow discussing corruption in development projects in the meetings of Public Accounts Committee of the Punjab Assembly. He alleged that the corruption was being carried out under the nose of Shehbaz Sharif, who is not allowing institutions to investigate him.

He also urged the NAB and the chief justice to take notice of the corruption by Punjab government.

Answering a question, Mehmood said that the PTI will forward two names for the caretaker chief minister in the province.