ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed a petition filed against advertisements released to newspapers in connection with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Turkey.

Ali Nawaz Awan, a local leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), in the petition had sought a declaration and direction in the context of advertisements published in various newspapers prior to the official visit of the prime minister.

When IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up the petition, Babar Awan appeared on behalf of the petitioner.

He drew the attention of the court towards orders passed by the Supreme Court on September 5, 2018, and October 2, 2018, in a suo motu cases.

He argued that it was illegal to use public funds for self-aggrandizement of public officeholders.

The court noted that the Supreme Court had ruled against “self-projection and aggrandizement under the garb of informing the public about the projects completed or being undertaken by them in their respective provinces during their tenure as the government(s) (provincial) in power… Such profligacy which is obviously undertaken at government expense and taxpayers’ money should not be burdening the public exchequer.”

The photographs of the visiting prime minister and the president of Turkey were printed in the advertisements while the text referred to the special relationship between the two countries. The expression “Zindabad” is obviously an expression of approval and further strengthening of the strong ties between the two sovereign states. There is nothing in the advertisements which may indicate that its publication was intended as self-aggrandizement of the prime minister,” observed the IHC chief justice.

The court order pointed out that the general financial rules of the federal government provided effective guidelines and prescribed the minimum standards for observing financial propriety according to which “Every officer incurring or authorising expenditure from public funds should be guided by high standards of financial propriety…Every public officer is expected to exercise the same vigilance in respect of expenditure incurred from public moneys as a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in respect of expenditure of his own money.”

These rules further said that “No authority should exercise its powers of sanctioning expenditure to pass an order which will be directly or indirectly to its own advantage. Public money should not be utilised for the benefit of a particular person or section of the community.”

The court perused the copies of advertisements published in daily newspapers and found that “The advertisement does not contain any material which could be treated as self aggrandizement of the prime minister.”

Justice Minallah, however, remarked that the publication of the advertisements could have been avoided because the enviable ties between the peoples of Pakistan and Turkey were so special and strong that they did not require such approval or encouragement. Nonetheless, it is not a case of self aggrandizement rather a tribute to the special relationship between the two countries.

“Even otherwise by entertaining the petition, the court would be unjustifiably making the advertisement controversial, which solely acknowledges the special relationship of Pakistan with Turkey.”

The IHC chief justice observed: “Mindful of the sanctity and reverence for the special relationship between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Turkey, the Court is not inclined to entertain the petition.”

He, however, expected that the government in future would take into consideration the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and the general financial rules.

Published in Dawn,June 7th, 2022