Journalists and politicians have raised questions on social media over the payment slip shared by Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab Maryam Nawaz for her use of the provincial government’s aircraft during a private trip to London, while others have defended the dates appearing on the bank deposit slip.
“While ‘a payment’ has been made, several questions continue to remain unanswered and lack transparency,” journalist Benazir Shah wrote on X, questioning whether the payment came from Maryam’s personal account and whose account specifically received the amount.
Former provincial spokesperson to the Government of Punjab Shahbaz Gill also questioned the dates on the slip.
“Fraud everywhere, deceit everywhere. Caliber everywhere. Today is the 17th. They’ve slapped on the 18th’s stamp,” Gill posted.
Journalist Omar Qureshi responded to Gill, explaining that the deposit slip carried two dates.
“For a professor at a U.S. university this guy is pretty uninformed,” Qureshi said. “There are two dates on the deposit slip. One on top right is Sept 17 which is the date the deposit has been made at the bank. The other is on lower left and is the stamp date as in the date on which the cheque amount will clear.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the dates,” he added.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Information Minister Shafi Jan also questioned the receipt, writing, “Following ‘Form 47’, here comes ‘Receipt 47’.”
Jaan said that the receipt was submitted on September 17 and received on September 18, before raising a separate question over Maryam’s declared assets.
“Furthermore, total assets of approximately 22.5 million (2.25 crore) were declared and submitted of Maryam Bibi to the Election Commission. Now, how did Bibi manage to deposit nearly 27.5 million (2.75 crore) out of her own pocket,” Jaan asked.
Responding to Jaan, Punjab Information Technology Board Chairman Faisal Yousaf said, “The idiot appears not to have affected any banking transaction in his life and familiar with Rokra (cash) only.”
Yousaf shared a deposit slip from his company account, saying he was doing so “just to illustrate the routine procedure- when it was deposited and what stamp did it bear!”
Former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair raised another set of questions over the document.
“Even the deposit slip is incomplete which means this payment will not be processed,” Zubair wrote on X, pointing to the absence of an account number, an authorised signature, a currency selection and an indication of whether the payment was for a current or savings account.
He also said that the account name was vague in the absence of an account number and claimed, “No bank will process or clear this payment.”
The reactions came along with Maryam defending her use of the government aircraft, saying she had paid Rs27.5 million from her own pocket for the trip to London to attend her daughter’s graduation. She also said that she had paid the fuel, parking and other charges herself.
Speaking at the inauguration of an electric bus service in Multan, Maryam questioned why she was being criticised for using an aircraft belonging to the office of the Punjab chief minister.
“All four provincial chief ministers have aircraft. Why is only Maryam Nawaz being criticised?” she asked.
She said that a chief minister’s time was valuable and pointed to the need to travel to distant parts of Punjab and abroad for official visits.
The issue had earlier drawn criticism after journalist Muhammad Malick discussed the estimated cost of Maryam’s trip, claiming that parking the aircraft at Luton Airport for three days cost around Rs3.5 million and estimating fuel expenses at around Rs7.8 million based on the aircraft’s manual.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had subsequently said that Maryam paid for the trip herself, while PTI’s Meher Bano Qureshi questioned whether receipts proving the payment would be made public.
