Fraudulent dealings: SHC calls for marriage fund distribution details
Ministry claims fund of Rs1.66 million has been wrongfully appropriated.
Ministry claims fund of Rs1.66 million has been wrongfully appropriated.
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court has ordered the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to provide details on the distribution of a marriage grant from the Rs1.66 million government workers welfare fund.
Justice Faisal Arab, who headed the bench, also summoned the manager of NBP’s Saddar branch on November 20, along with the records pertaining to the distribution of the funds.
The National Accountability Bureau had initiated an inquiry into the alleged funds embezzlement on the complaint of the federal ministry of labour and manpower. The ministry had claimed that an amount of Rs1.66 million that was allocated for a marriage grant for the daughters of labourers had been wrongly appropriated by officials.
Questions about the marriage grant funds distribution arose during the hearing of a petition filed by the former director finance of the workers welfare fund, Anwar Ali Ruk, who is currently in jail in connection with the workers fund embezzlement scam and has applied for bail. His lawyer, Advocate Amir Raza Naqvi, assured the court that his client is a grade-18 grant officer and will not abscond from the court. Trial proceedings are pending before an accountability court in Karachi, with further investigations required before a verdict can be announced, claimed Naqvi.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2013.
The Sindh High Court has ordered the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to provide details on the distribution of a marriage grant from the Rs1.66 million government workers welfare fund.
Justice Faisal Arab, who headed the bench, also summoned the manager of NBP’s Saddar branch on November 20, along with the records pertaining to the distribution of the funds.
The National Accountability Bureau had initiated an inquiry into the alleged funds embezzlement on the complaint of the federal ministry of labour and manpower. The ministry had claimed that an amount of Rs1.66 million that was allocated for a marriage grant for the daughters of labourers had been wrongly appropriated by officials.
Questions about the marriage grant funds distribution arose during the hearing of a petition filed by the former director finance of the workers welfare fund, Anwar Ali Ruk, who is currently in jail in connection with the workers fund embezzlement scam and has applied for bail. His lawyer, Advocate Amir Raza Naqvi, assured the court that his client is a grade-18 grant officer and will not abscond from the court. Trial proceedings are pending before an accountability court in Karachi, with further investigations required before a verdict can be announced, claimed Naqvi.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2013.