LAHORE: Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court (LHC) disposed of a petition challenging the use of Punjab University’s (PU) funds for the laptop distribution ceremony after the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) paid the amount spent to the university.
The laptop distribution ceremony was held in PU on March 23, with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif being the chief guest of the event.The PU’s counsel on Wednesday informed the court that an amount worth Rs 8.7 million had been given to the university as educational funds. A petition in this regard had been filed by a local, Chaudhry Nazir Ahmad, in which he had challenged the use of university funds for the laptop distribution ceremony. Earlier, the CJ had observed that students’ funds could not be used for political motives.
A law officer had already informed that the Punjab government had announced to bear expenses of the ceremony and that the CDGL will reimburse the expenses to the university.The petitioner’s counsel, Aftab Bajwa, submitted that the PU administration had arranged a ceremony for the distribution of laptops among students on March 23 at PU Quaid-e-Azam Campus. He said that for this function, the VC sanctioned a supplementary grant of Rs 30 million.
He alleged that the VC made this decision without permission of the PU Syndicate and, as such, it was an illegal decision. He alleged that the VC arranged the function to oblige Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif by inviting them as chief guests. He submitted that banners had been displayed in the university along with the photographs of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, which showed the mala fide intentions of the VC. The counsel also requested the court to order departmental action against the responsible.
Bajwa also said that the CDGL could not foot the bill, as it was not authorised to use its funds for a function for political projection of a particular party. He said the PML-N leaders delivered political speeches at the laptop distribution ceremony, adding that laptops could be distributed among students by the university itself “without staging a political drama”.LHC grants bail to alleged gas thief: Lahore High Court Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan on Wednesday granted bail to a shopkeeper Muhammad Yaqoob of Baghbanpura, allegedly involved in gas theft.
The judge ordered to release the accused on furnishing bail bond of Rs 50,000. He deplored that Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) was busy arresting gas thieves but silent over action against its officials who helped the theft. He observed that gas theft was not possible for a common person without convenience of the officials concerned.The accused submitted that he had failed to pay his gas bills after which the staff of SNGPL raided his shop and arrested him and had lodged a fake case against him in Baghbanpura Police Station. He pleaded that he was not involved in any wrong deed and was implicated in a fake case by the by the SNGPL staff.
The counsel of SNGPL, while opposing the application, said that different groups of thieves had been working in the country to steal gas from the main pipelines after damaging it.He said that Yaqoob was also arrested red handed by department’s task force and involved in gas theft so he should not be released. – Dailytimes
