LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday directed the Punjab government to submit complete record of outsourcing the Nandipur Power Project to a Chinese company.

Heading a three-judge bench at the Lahore registry, the chief justice also directed the government to release the withheld salaries of Wapda employees who had been earlier working with the project.

The Wapda employees, present in the court, said they had been transferred to Guddu and Muzzaffarbad power plants where they faced life threats. A provincial law officer assured the court that the salaries would be paid to the employees.

However, the court stopped relocation of Wapda employees and sought detailed report on the project within three days.

NICL: The CJP expressed dismay over poor performance of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in investigation into the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.

The chief justice lamented that the NAB appeared to be helpless in arresting Mohsin Warraich, a proclaimed offender in the scam.

A NAB officer told the court that proceedings in NICL cases were in progress while statement of 72 witnesses had been recorded in Karachi while three witnesses’ statement had been testified in Lahore’s accountability courts.

The chief justice sought complete record of all NICL cases pending before the accountability courts of Lahore and Karachi and also ordered the NAB to arrest Warraich.

Mohsin Warraich and other suspects allegedly owed Rs420 million collectively to the NICL.

PENSION: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the United Bank Limited (UBL) to pay pension to its former employees before Eidul Fitr.

Earlier, during the hearing, the CJP expressed serious displeasure over the non-payment of the pension despite a court order and issued a contempt notice to the president of UBL.

However, the chief justice withdrew the notice on the request of senior advocate Salman Aslam Butt, the counsel of the bank. The lawyer undertook before the court that the pension would be paid to the employees in compliance with the previous order.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2018