Corruption: Assets of patwaris’ to be scrutinized

LHC CJ Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry ordered a scrutiny of the assets of all patwaris in Punjab and action against the corrupts.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Monday ordered a scrutiny of the assets of all patwaris in the Punjab and action against the corrupt ones. The CJ also directed Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to set up a committee to probe alleged corruption worth Rs800 million by some patwaris. The CJ was hearing case proceedings of a petition, where the petitioner, Ahmad Ali Waris, a Mandi Bahauddin resident, submitted that a patwari had forced him to pay a bribe to issue an ownership certificate. However, he said, the patwari did not issue him the certificate, despite taking the bribe. A law officer told the court that several inquiries had been conducted against the patwaris and some of them had been found guilty. He said that some patwaris had not deposited mutation fees in the national exchequer for 10 years. He said they may have caused a loss of up to Rs800 million. The CJ adjourned the next hearing till October 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2011.