ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was assured on Wednesday that the court’s prior permission would be sought if any action was warranted against Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Director General Amina Imran.

The assurance was held out to a three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, which had taken up a case by Lahore Mayor retired Col Mubashar Javed seeking a restraining order against the Punjab government, which allegedly was contemplating dissolving the existing local bodies prematurely before the completion of their five-year term.

At the last hearing on Feb 20, the court had asked Punjab’s Advocate General Ahmed Awais to take stock of things and rectify the situation. The directives were issued on a complaint lodged by Amina Imran that the Anti-Corruption Establish­ment (ACE), Punjab, was harassing her as well as other staff members.

In response, the advocate general explained to the court that he had met relevant stakeholders and that the ACE had been sensitised to show grace in the matter. He said Ms Imran was not an accused in any criminal case and if the apex court so desired, permission would be sought before making any move against her in the matter.

He assured the court that the chief secretary or the additional chief secretary were not in the know of the developments initiated by ACE Director General Hussain Asghar and also requested that in order to avoid such occurrences in future, the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establish­ment Rules, 2014, might be revived after the province was allowed to effectuate amendments therein.

The advocate general also explained that the ACE director general had no intention to secure any extension in service and he already had apprised the Punjab chief minister and the prime minister that he should not be considered for being provided any extension in service.

The chief minister had also assured the undersigned that there would not be any extension in service, he added.

Moreover, he said, the ACE director general had categorically and unequivocally apprised him that Ms Imran had not been nominated as accused in any of the criminal complaints, rather her role would be determined during the course of further investigation.

And if the Supreme Court so directed, permission would indeed be sought from the quarters concerned before proceeding further in the matter, the advocate general said, adding that the apprehensions that Ms Imran would be harassed or coerced or intimidated should be put to rest.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2019