PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Wednesday suspended a Peshawar Development Authority tender advertisement for some development schemes in the finance minister’s constituency and native village until further orders.

Justice Mussarat Hilali and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim issued the order on a petition jointly filed by three Awami National Party MPAs, who claimed that the chief minister had allocated a huge amount of Rs283 million for the finance minister’s constituency.

The petitioners requested the court to declare the act of the chief minister illegal.

ANP MPAs allege favouritism in funds allocation

The bench fixed Jul 30 for the next hearing asking the chief minister, finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra and provincial chief secretary to file response to the petition.

The petitioners, including Khushdil Khan from PK-70, Salahuddin Mohmand from PK-71 and Samar Bilour from PK-78, claimed that their constituencies had been ignored by the provincial government and that funds were allocated to the constituency of the finance minister and some areas of his native village in a discriminatory manner.

Shumail Ahmad Butt, lawyer for the petitioners, said ignoring the constituencies of his clients was a case of discrimination.

He said the Supreme Court had already declared the chief minister’s discretionary funds unconstitutional, while the bulk grants like the one in the current case were also declared illegal by the apex court.

The lawyer said Rs283 million had been allocated for different schemes in PK-73 constituency, from where the finance minister was elected in the 2018 general elections, and the areas in his native village, Meira Kachori and Jhagra, which were part of PK-69 Peshawar, on the directives of chief minister.

He said the petitioners had opposed those schemes on the basis of discrimination and favouritism, for being in violation of the law and rules, and over the misuse of the taxpayers’ money.

The lawyer said petitioner Khushdil Khan had also written a letter on June 22, 2019, to the chief minister about the ‘unjustified’ allocation of huge funds to a minister’s constituency and home village but the point remained unattended.

He said the PDA director general got a notice published in a local newspaper on July 2 inviting e-tenders from contractors for development work in that constituency.

The petitioners said the impugned schemes were sanctioned out of the Public Investment Fund (2018-19) but that fund neither figured in the ADP 2018-19 and onward nor was the same fund approved by the provincial assembly.

They claimed that PK-73 compromised mostly developed and posh areas, including Hayatabad and University Town, while every budget had a huge amount for the execution of development works there.

The petitioners said PK-70 and PK-71 had been adversely affected by militancy since 2008, especially the infrastructure, which needed the immediate attention of the government.

They prayed the court to declare the funds allocated for the finance minister’s constituency illegal.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2019