The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to pay Rs1.4 million for a provincial government advertisement in which his photograph was featured.

The apex court issued the order while hearing a suo motu notice pertaining to media advertisements by the governments of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar directed the chief minister to pay the amount within 10 days either from his own pocket or using PPP funds. He pointed out that former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had paid at least Rs5m for an advertisement featuring his picture.

The court also directed the KP government to submit its reply over publication of former chief minister Pervez Khattak's picture in two advertisements by Monday.

On April 4, 2018, the chief justice, during a hearing of the case, had deemed using pictures for self-promotion as inappropriate. "The use of pictures in government ads on TV or in print is henceforth prohibited by the court," he had ruled.

The KP information secretary submitted a report in court today seeking 10 days to submit a reply, but the court rejected the report, with Justice Nisar remarking that the KP government was attempting to mislead the court.

He reprimanded the information secretary for what he said was the unlawful defence of political figures by a government servant.

On Feb 28, 2018, the chief justice had taken suo motu notice of government's awarding of advertisements to the media at "nation's expense".

The court had constituted a three-member bench and directed the information secretaries of the three provinces to submit the record of advertisements awarded to print and electronic media.

The court also asked the authorities to provide details of how many advertisements were provided to each media house.

The chief justice had said that the provincial governments run advertisements in the media with large logos and pictures to promote their projects, "yet 4,500 schools in Sindh are deprived of potable water".

On March 8, 2018, the court had ordered then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif to reimburse the national exchequer Rs5.5m after a Punjab government newspaper advertisement carrying his photograph was displayed in the court.

Subsequently, on April 4, 2018, the chief justice had ruled, "The use of pictures in government ads on TV or in print is henceforth prohibited by the court."