SHC dismisses plea against PM Shehbaz’s Umrah on state expenses 

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday threw out the petition filed against the performance of Umrah by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the members of his delegation on government expenses, saying it was inadmissible for hearing, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

In its written order, the high court said that since Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, the petitioner, was not the ‘affected’ person, therefore, he could not be allowed to become a party to the case. 

The court observed that the petition was merely based on media reports and did not contain any solid evidence. 

Naqvi, in his petition, had argued that the expenditures incurred on the travelling as well as Umrah by such a large entourage was a pure wastage of public money. 

The petitioner sought the court order for a probe into the total expenditures incurred besides order for the prime minister to pay the expenses from his own pocket. 

Naqvi also prayed to the court to order each and every member included in the government delegation to give details of his or her assets. 

SHC throws out petition against ‘corrupt’ federal ministers:

The SHC also dismissed yet another petition filed by Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi against members of the federal cabinet facing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiries as well as criminal cases, saying it was inadmissible for the hearing. 

In its written order, the court asked the petitioner to tell as to under which law people facing NAB or other cases could not be inducted in the federal cabinet. “You have failed to satisfy us under article 199 of the constitution,” the court said while addressing the applicant.  

The SHC also made an observation that the petitioner was not an ‘affected’ person in the case. 

Naqvi, in his petition, had taken the stance that majority of members of the cabinet, including PM Shehbaz, were corrupt since they were facing inquiries by both NAB and FIA. 

He had further argued that under article 248, NAB-tainted individuals could not be inducted in the cabinet, and that the Supreme Court and SHC verdicts served as precedents in this regard. “Therefore, it is prayed to the SHC to order the removal of cabinet members facing NAB and FIA inquiries,” the petition read.      

Reporter: Bilal Ahmed