Nine officials from public sector companies have refused to return excess amount they received as salaries, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Director General Lahore Saleem Shahzad informed the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday.
In a report submitted to the SC, the anti-graft body said that out of 54 officials who had received excess salaries, 45 officials had agreed to return the amount. The report said that NAB had recovered more than Rs320 million from public officials who received excess salaries.
A two-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing a suo motu case regarding heads of public sector companies who were withdrawing market-based salaries that were over and above their regular salaries [based on officer's grade].
The chief justice asked Managing Director of Safe City Authority Ali Amir Malik, who is one of the nine officials who refused to return the excess amount, why he had been receiving Rs650,000 when, according to the government pay scale, he should have received Rs150,000-200,000. Justice Nisar lamented that officials who had been receiving excess amount of salaries had "looted the public's money".
Project Director of Safe City Authority Akbar Nasir Khan also appeared before the court today.
The bench ordered that the remaining officials return the excess amount within three months, warning that otherwise the court would take action. The hearing was adjourned until an specified date.
