ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to all pertaining parties in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) financial corruption and mismanagement suo motu notice case to appear at the next hearing on Dec 4, DawnNews reported.

A three-member bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the case.

Chief Justice Iftikhar inquired about the conditions of PIA and whether had they become like the conditions of Pakistan Steel Mills.

PIA’s counsel Raja Bashir informed the court that current management of PIA was attempting to improve the company’s conditions. He also said that in the previous years, PIA had incurred a loss of Rs. 119 billion in total due to delays and other issues.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said that no PIA flight departs on time.

Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that the PIA was the lone state-owned organisation that runs on public’s money.

The court had taken suo motu notice of this case but the petitions were also filed pertaining to the case.

A letter by the Transparency International Pakistan was also read out at the hearing by Raja Bashir, which affirmed that PIA’s conditions were indeed very bad.

The report also stated that PIA violated Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in their purchases; pilots and other staff constantly protested through strikes, causing great loss to the company.

According to the letter, PIA has incurred losses amounting to Rs. 141 billion.

Due to the non-availability of the petitioners, the court issued notices to all parties and adjourned the hearing until Dec 4.