Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The city managers failed to conclude even a single high profile inquiry in the last five years and only concluded ten low profile inquiries.

Although, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) imposed minor and major penalties on its 36 employees involved in embezzlement and corruption, but the “faces behind big cases” are yet to be penalised. The penalties were imposed in only ten cases of corruption while over a hundred cases are still pending before different inquiry committees.

While answering a question asked by Senator Dr. Jahnzaib Jamaldini, the Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry shared a list of inquiries in the Senate of Pakistan.

The list included the name of CDA employees who faced different penalties and the recovery of looted sums in the last five years, but unfortunately not a single high profile case could be finalised so far.

As per list, the two employees; Senior Auditor Agha Haroon Nawaz (HSSC) and Staff Nurse Mrs. Maryam (SSC) were dismissed from service as their degrees of intermediate and matric were found as bogus. A major penalty of reduction to a lower post of town planner was imposed upon Mr. Naveed-ul-Haq in the case of tainted allotment of plots whereas minor penalties of withholding three increments for one year was imposed upon the Medical Technologist Abdul Waheed, Haseen Raza Zaidi and Assistant Director Ali Murtaza Bukhari, who helped in the said irregularity.

Former Deputy Director Kachi Abadi Cell (KAC), Arshad Chohan, was dismissed from service after he was found guilty in an illegal change of trade in the industrial plot, but the same order was held in abeyance in the appeal stage.

On allotment of a piece of land for playground to Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, increments of the former Deputy Director General Planning, Sarwar Sindu, were withheld. Nineteen employees were punished with the recovery of an amount Rs 5, 89,777 in addition to the stoppage of one increment for three years. They were accused for embezzlements in the stock of pharmacy in the Capital Hospital.

Besides these so called major punishments, several minor penalties were also imposed on other employees of the CDA, which includes Accounts Officer Naveed Lutf, DDG Design Mr. Sohail, Gardawar CDA Asad Riaz, Patwari CDA Rashid Mehmood and Tariq Jan, Sub Assistants Mr. Sajjad and Mr. Jaffari and Azhar Mehmood Kiani.

However, one thing is quite clear from the details shared by the Minister of State in the upper house of parliament that the city managers had failed to finalise the high profile inquiries such as Safa Gold Mall, Grand Hayat etc. and were only trying to take a cover behind the finalisation of these tiny issues.

A legal maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied” fits for the CDA as not only 117 inquiries regarding corruption, contravention and malpractices have been pending for years in the civic body, but the accused officers are still working on important posts and they can easily influence the said probes. As per rules and regulations of the Authority, around two weeks are required to complete a departmental inquiry, but contrary to the rules, a large number of inquiries have been pending in the CDA for the last many years.

The inquiries include a fact-finding inquiry into Pak Towers (F-10) collapse, three separate inquiries into the missing of plot files in various sectors, fraudulent allotment of plots, patronising encroachment at Moza Pindorian, missing of 68 tons of steel from the store of the enforcement wing, the construction of an entertainment hub at Rawal Lake, cutting of 34 trees and the purchase of rescue dogs feed etc.