Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain said on Friday that he has received a legal notice from Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz over remarks he made in an interview. He said he would soon submit his reply to the notice in court.
Salik Hussain also said that transparency should not be practised behind closed doors. The notice was issued over his allegations of corruption against the Punjab government, and Maryam Nawaz is seeking Rs5 billion in damages.
Notice demands Rs5 billion over interview remarks
The notice was delivered through Maryam Nawaz’s lawyer, who accused the federal minister of making baseless and misleading claims about the provincial government. According to the document, Salik Hussain said in an exclusive interview that he had often heard stories of corruption in Punjab. He also suggested that the province must have cupboards full of corruption files rather than just a few.
Also read: Maryam Nawaz to send defamation notice to Chaudhary Salik
The notice states that Salik Hussain offered no evidence to support his claims. It describes the allegations as baseless, unverified and defamatory, and notes that the interview did not point to any documented incident, investigation or formal complaint. Legal notices have also been sent to the television channel that aired the interview and to its reporter, Naeem Ashraf Butt, over the broadcast.
Maryam Nawaz says allegations must be backed by proof
Maryam Nawaz said she had watched the programme in which the minister claimed corruption was widespread in Punjab and that the alleged proceeds were piling up. She said she would not tolerate what she called baseless allegations and warned of legal action if such accusations continued.
“If Chaudhry Salik has evidence, he should present it instead of making allegations,” she said, adding that she expected him to back up his claims. She argued that the matter was not only about corruption, but about a federal minister making serious accusations without supporting evidence. She also said people appointed through personal recommendations often harm the interests of the country and its people.
The chief minister suggested that the minister was unhappy about the transfer of the Deputy Commissioner of Gujrat, and questioned whether the row was linked to that administrative decision. Recalling her visit to Gujrat, she said she had faced severe flooding, with water so high that her Land Cruiser was submerged. She also criticised his remarks about previous provincial administrations, noting that he had described the government of former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi as the best.
Salik Hussain’s claims on development funds and governance
Before the legal dispute, Salik Hussain had raised concerns about governance, alleged corruption, administrative inefficiency and the distribution of development funds in Punjab. In the interview he endorsed remarks made by Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, saying they reflected facts and ground realities. He acknowledged that he had no documentary evidence, but said he regularly heard accounts of corruption in the province.
He alleged that political preferences were shaping development decisions, with areas represented by government-backed candidates receiving preferential treatment. He claimed that a major portion of Punjab’s development budget went to Lahore, leaving other districts dependent on the government’s priorities. Districts where government-backed candidates had not won, he said, risked being deprived of projects and resources.
On government spending, he said public representatives should show greater sensitivity to economic conditions and avoid unnecessary lavish expenditure. He argued that saying an aircraft was not used for personal purposes was not enough justification, and that officials using government aircraft for official trips should also explain the results achieved. He called on relevant institutions to identify individuals he said were obstructing progress while working on external agendas.
Salik Hussain also proposed empowering federal and provincial ministers and holding them accountable for their performance. He said ministers cannot be expected to deliver results when their authority is restricted, comparing this to tying someone’s hands and feet before asking them to run. Speaking about Punjab’s leadership, he described Pervez Elahi as the best chief minister the province had seen during his lifetime, saying development work had been carried out without political or personal discrimination.
