SC seeks reports on luxury vehicles in use of govt officials
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered federal and provincial governments to furnish within 10 days reports on the use of government-owned vehicles by government officials and their purpose for doing so.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar delivered the instructions while heading a three-member bench hearing a case on the use of luxury vehicles by government officials.
"This is basically a matter that falls under the jurisdiction of provincial governments," said the assistant attorney general present in court.
"Some cars were kept under the name of Saaf Pani and 56 other companies," the chief justice replied.
"27 cars were found [in the use of] the Punjab government; these were hidden away in Ali Complex," he added.
"Where did the 500 cars recovered by the Sindh government go?" the chief justice asked the Sindh advocate general.
During the hearing today, the Punjab advocate general told the court that the Punjab government had recovered 201 cars.
"We should know which officials can use these cars as millions of rupees are spent on their upkeep," the chief justice said, adding that the extra cars in the government's use should be sold and the money be used for some "greater cause".
The federal and provincial governments were then ordered to compile and submit their reports on the matter within 10 days.
"No more time will be given after that," the chief justice warned before adjourning the hearing till October 26.
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On DawnNews
Comments (25) Closed
Oct 16, 2018 02:07pm
Getting rid of all the old junk vehicles.
Time to buy new shinny ones??
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Oct 16, 2018 02:11pm
Is there anyway under Pakistani law so that the duration of current CJ can be extended by another ONE YEAR? It will be good for Pakistan
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Oct 16, 2018 02:12pm
"Where did the 500 cars recovered by the Sindh government go?" Probably being used by the family of the ROYALS>
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Oct 16, 2018 02:15pm
Just curious what vehicle does the scj use!
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Oct 16, 2018 03:20pm
Catch the misused official cars from streets while being misused.
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Oct 16, 2018 03:22pm
Let's carry same yardstick for all government official and the same questions be asked for military and civilian officials both.
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Oct 16, 2018 03:30pm
How we define a luxury car as all luxuries of past are now necessities
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Oct 16, 2018 03:35pm
All funds recovered from the sale/auction should perferably be transferred to the DAM Fund.
Also, how much if any, has been recovered thusfar from the the rouge ministers and Ex-PM? Are the public entitled to know or was it just "hot air" ?
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Oct 16, 2018 03:56pm
Well done CJ who should also look into the issue of Green number plates which also encourage the use and abuse of official cars.
Everyone is equal in the eyes of law but occupants of official cars with Green number plates treat themselves as above the law. These cars often violate traffic laws and are never stopped by the law enforcement agencies. It's very common for families and close friends of officials to use these cars with official drivers being provided and enjoy the official protocol. Some officials take these cars to their native villages and towns to impress local residents and raise their profile in the area.
Below is a link to the news item about Green number plates previously bublished in Dawn on 17/02/09.
https://www.dawn.com/news/445163
CJ is requested to ban the use of Green number plates so that all citizens are treated equal in the eyes of law and abuse of use of official cars is stopped.
Dawn-please do public a favour by bringing this to the attention of Cj.
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Oct 16, 2018 04:00pm
This is really not Chief Justice's job. There is a Prime Minister.
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Oct 16, 2018 04:21pm
The same rules should apply to the judges also.
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Oct 16, 2018 05:07pm
Saaf pani with dirty cars.
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Oct 16, 2018 05:09pm
Rampant corruption in Punjab and Sind.
‘Where did the 500 cars recovered by the Sindh government go?" the chief justice asked the Sindh advocate general. During the hearing today, the Punjab advocate general told the court that the Punjab government had recovered 201 cars.’
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Oct 16, 2018 05:50pm
Do we know where do we stand in terms of per capita income shown in US$? Let me compare us with India where all ministers use locally manufactured cars.
Pakistan IMF 5,354 WB 5,527 CIA 5,400 Avg 5,427
India IMF7,174 WB 7,056 CIA 7,200 Avg 7,143
The above figures themselves show us mirror to see our mutilated face and feel ashamed of burning our hard earned foreign exchange on importing expensive cars while on daily basis our children die in Thar due to malnutrition, adulterated drinking water and lack of medical facilities. Needless to mention, Indian leadership has emerged India as a leading technological power which is worrying west to be honest but very much regretfully we leadership had been enjoying musical chair. Shame, utter shame on us. It is very commendable that CJP has taken cognizance of luxury cars but I will suggest that not only he orders to sell all the luxury cars but also punish those who approved to purchase them. Iqbal Hadi Zaidi
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Oct 16, 2018 05:51pm
The guardians of all the four provinces, misuse their authority, fully indulge in corruption, found hand in gloves with outlaws, the unlawful land grabbing, the blantant encroachment on amenities plots, government lands ( railway lands)
the laymen common people were subject to gross betrayals, and poverty spread like menace. The use of junkyard cars or old cars are not that big issue, just stop allocation to any government officer, all legislators, must arrange their own transport, despite expectations PTI failed to recover money from criminals, and the talk of town is IMF or no IMF. Pak has many IMF ( inland monetary fellows) just grab them, and squeeze money from them, after all China recovered from corrupt guys, the KSA got signed checks from elites at Riz Carlton Hotel. PM IK is the last hope but not least, if still he failed, then extra ordinary measures are likely to be taken by extra ordinary people like our CJP SC Saqib Nisar.
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Oct 16, 2018 05:59pm
When will this useless publicity stunt of selling cars stop? The country needs billions of dollars and the problems are much deeper and more structural than a few hundred luxury cars. Short sightedness and anger on the part of the people and sheer hypocrisy on the part of the powerful is what allows these pointless exercises to continue.
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Oct 16, 2018 06:05pm
A right move in fulfilling one of the conditionality of IMF, requiring the govt. to stop all wasteful expenditures. It is very shameful of the previous two govts. of burdening the nation by taking unprecedented debt of $85B during last decade, partly spending this on importing luxurious cars for PM house. There is no doubt that the provincial govts. taking a cue from the federal govt. did use considerable loan money designated for development work, by buying cars for bureaucrates & the ministers in charge. It is not a secret anymore that these high govt. officials/ministers are in possession of several vehicles for their domestic/official use, with maintenance cost in millions, produces perpetual bleeding of our bankrupt economy. In addition, theft of funds through fake maintenance /petrol bills are eaten up by the lower tier employees. It is prudent to say that savings accrued through control of misuse/wasteful expenditures, can be spent on educating 25 Million out of school children.
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Oct 16, 2018 06:09pm
Where did the 500 cars recovered by the Sindh government go?" wherever they go with those cars, no matter what the weather is or going to be, they know how to bring their own sunshine. When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of corrupt men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and moral code glorifies it. one wonder how millions of people chanting on for them...
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Oct 16, 2018 06:11pm
PML-N Sharif family legacy of nepotism, cronyism will take some time to end.
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Oct 16, 2018 06:48pm
Is it really Supreme Court’s jurisdiction?
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Oct 16, 2018 07:00pm
Well done CJ who should also look into the issue of Green number plates which also encourage use and abuse of official cars.
Everyone is equal in the eyes of law but occupants of official cars with Green number plates regard themselves as above the law. These cars often violate traffic laws and are never stopped by law enforcement agencies. It's common for families and close friends of officials to use these cars with official drivers being provided and enjoy the official protocol. Some officials take these cars to their native villages and towns to impress local residents and raise their profile in the area.
Below is a link to the news item about Green number plates previously bublished in Dawn on 17/02/09.
https://www.dawn.com/news/445163
CJ is requested to ban the use of Green number plates so that all citizens are treated as equal in the eyes of law and abuse of use of official cars is stopped.
Dawn-please do public a favour by bringing this to the attention of Cj.
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Oct 16, 2018 08:05pm
Every day I hear this kind of news, so many hundreds of cars were being used by the Ministers, bureaucrats illegally. No wonder why Pakistan is in economic mess. How about firing these few hundred corrupt bureaucrats like what President Ayub Khan and Prime minister Zulfiqar Ali did.
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Oct 16, 2018 08:06pm
Does job description, contract or appointment letter state that minister or high officials would be provided with luxury a luxury car, paid by tax payers? If not, than take those luxury cars away immediately, auction them and deposit money in government treasury. Enough is enough. People are not ready to put up with such an abuse by powerful people, collecting salary,paid by tax payers.
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Oct 16, 2018 10:11pm
@Shafiq Shah Good idea. Fire all the corrupt, no good, non-productive pencil pushers. Hire hard working dedicated people and monitor their performance regularly. Trim the fat and eliminate the waste. That is the only way for country to go forward making economic recovery and provide better standard of living for its people.
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Oct 17, 2018 02:10am
@Shafiq Shah Question is did this change anything? None so far. The solution to the issue lies in structural & institutional reforms through a policy wherein the size of existing govt. be reduced & comprehensive reform of our colonial era bureaucracy is brought about. Disinvestment In huge Public sector enterprises, downsizing govt.departments, foresenic audit of all institutions through third party reputable international firm, revisiting and curbing financial & other administrative powers of bureaucrates by installing an oversight committee comprising of equal numbers of senior govt. officials & prominent citizens, vigilant performance audit of employees benefiting honest & hardworking with bonuses & raise in emoluments, perpetual investment in modernization of office equipment & training of those manning them, are few tested antidotes bringing desired change in productivity/ output of govt.institutions where corruption, nepotism, inefficiency/ indifference are the order of the day
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