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| June 23, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1426 |
PDF scheme: SC accepts govt plea
ISLAMABAD, June 22: The Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted an appeal of the Punjab government against distribution of prizes to winners of the Punjab Development Fund (PDF) scheme.
On June 11, the Sindh High Court, Larkana Bench, on a petition of Sajjad Ahmed had stayed the distribution of PDF prizes, till final decision, though it allowed balloting.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice-designate Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Hamid Ali Mirza however, adjourned the appeal for next week after admitting the case for regular hearing but directed the SHC registrar to immediately dispatch to the Supreme Court, the relevant record and its orders. A similar appeal of the Bank of Punjab against the same respondent, Sajjad Ahmed, a resident of Sindh, was also accepted for hearing by the apex court.
During the hearing, Punjab Advocate General Aftab Iqbal Chaudhry told the apex court that SHC Larkana was likely to take up the case on June 23 and that PDF scheme could not be challenged in SHC due to want of jurisdiction.
Chaudhry Mushtaq advocate also appeared before the court as counsel of the Punjab government, while Jamal Sukhaira advocate represented the bank.
Sajjad Ahmed had filed a petition in SHC, Larkana bench, against launching of PDF scheme on the grounds that it was against the law. SHC Larkana through an interim order allowed the Punjab government to do balloting but stayed the provincial government from distributing prizes till final decision.
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