Pak Law Minister's '1 million rupees cheque' too hot for SCBA President to handle!

Islamabad, Oct 19 (ANI): Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Qazi Anwar has returned the one million-rupees cheque given to the association by Law Minister Babar Awan.

Speaking to media representatives outside the court, Anwar said that accepting such an amount was creating doubts about his integrity, the Dawn reported.

A faction of the media had started a defamation campaign against him, the SCBA president said, adding that this was the very reason why he had decided to return the cheque.

Emphasising that Awan had offered him the cheque for the welfare of the Supreme Court employees, he disposed off the cheque in front of the media representatives.

Earlier, Law Minister Babar Awan had announced the donation of 5 million rupees to the association at the Supreme Court premises.

The immediate acceptance of the donation by Anwar, who received the cheque for one million rupees, raised many an eyebrow. The remaining four million rupees were to be paid to the association's new leaders to be elected on October 27.

Many people had criticized the acceptance of the funds. Advocate Athar Minallah, former spokesperson for the Chief Justice of Pakistan, accused Awan of being instrumental in the government's refusal to implement the Supreme Court's judgment against the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

Lawyers of Rawalpindi banned Awan's entry in the bar premises, accusing him of trying to create a rift in their ranks by distributing grants from public money.

The bar has also refused to accept any funds from the law ministry, and urged the government to comply with the SC orders to reopen cases abolished under the defunct NRO. (ANI)