The Lahore High Court has asked the federal government for details of expenses incurred for the two-day state visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and his 40-member delegation to Pakistan.
The bench was hearing a petition against the details of the expenditure for the Royal visit and quoted media reports that suggest the total cost of over Rs 200 million. As many as 300 luxury cars were reserved by the government in addition to the JF-17 fighter jets that escorted the Saudi prince’s aeroplane after it entered Pakistani airspace, it maintained
The petitioner called out the government for using the national exchequer to pay for a foreign dignitary’s state visit; claiming it to be against both Islamic laws and traditions.
The court was requested to seek details of all expenditure from the federal government.
During the hearing, the bench pointed out that the petitioner could have requested the information from the Ministry of Information, while he insisted that since it was a public interest case, they did not feel the need to approach the ministry.
The bench, however, directed the federal government and concerned departments to submit their responses till March 19.
It should be mentioned here that the Saudi Crown Prince had visited the federal capital to hold talks with top civil-military leadership where he inked investment deals to the tune of $20 billion.
Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2019.
