Longstanding issue: LHC seeks details of Pindi admin’s assets

ACE begins gathering necessary data, says ACE senior official

RAWALPINDI: In the wake of the directives from the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has begun collecting details of the assets of the administration officials responsible for taking action against encroachers in the garrison city.

Specific information of the administrators of Rawal and Potohar Towns is to be gathered by ACE.

A senior official in ACE Rawalpindi on Monday said that the department received an order of Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi, and accordingly, the staff started the process of obtaining the information from the responsible officials ranging from the DC  to the encroachment inspector.



ACE Rawalpindi Director Junaid Ibrahim confirmed that he had received the order.

Ibrahim added that he handed over the orders to ACE SHO Sheikh Nasir to obtain the necessary details.

Previously, Justice Lodhi of the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench on January 10 directed ACE and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director to initiate an inquiry and obtain assets of the DC and executive officers of the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards.

The court had directed the two directors to submit their responses on January 26.

The court had been hearing a contempt of court plea against managers of the district government and cantonment boards for their inability to implement the court orders to remove the rampant encroachments.

A senior official of the FIA Rawalpindi said that the agency had so far not received orders from the court.

He said that the FIA would initiate the process as soon as they received the court orders.

Expressing annoyance over non-implementation of the court orders, Justice Lodhi had remarked, “The public servants responsible for removal of encroachments and providing other municipal facilities to citizens are guilty of abusing their positions as public servants and reportedly this is being done by accepting pecuniary advantages.”

The court had directed ACE and the FIA to collect details of the assets of relevant officials as some of them had been living beyond their known sources of income.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2017.