The MPA is said to have admitted that she has been illegally occupying state land for more than 10 years causing an estimated loss of Rs2 million to the public kitty.
Saima Aziz, a reserved seat MPA since 2008, was nominated in a first Information Report (FIR) 9/2007 dated March 30 under sections 409, 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and 5-B(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at a police station in Muzaffargarh. The sections deal with criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, forgery for purpose of cheating and using, as genuine, a forged document respectively.
Six other people including three former naib nazims were also nominated in the same FIR. Kazim Ali Malik, the ACE director general, has said in the request that he sent to the Speaker and the chief minister, that Saima’s husband, Abdul Aziz, was allotted land reserved for the Water Supply Scheme. According to the complainant, Rana Muhammad Ashgar, the land, which is worth more than Rs2 million, was acquired with the help of Kot Addu Town Municipal Administration (TMA) officials. Aziz has allegedly constructed a residential bungalow on the land.
It was further alleged that the trees on the plot were cut down and sold by the accused before the house was construction of the land. According to Malik, an inquiry was conducted in September 2005 and again in February 2007 under the Punjab ACE 1975 rules. It was found that 2 kanals and 10 marlas were allotted at a rent of Rs700 per month to Saima Aziz for constructing a social community centre. However, the MPA built her house on the allotted plot.
According to the inquiry, a beauty parlour is also being run in a portion of her bungalow. Saima admitted to applying for the plot in accordance with the government “sale by private treaty” policy, which was denied.
On the recommendation of the inquiry officer, an FIR was registered against the then TMO, Syed Raza Mehdi Baaqri; tehsil officer, Riaz Ahmad; Kot Addu patwari, Ghulam Qadir; naib nazims, Abdual Ghaffar, Tayyab Ali Mujahid, Chaudhary Muhammad Saleem; and the MPA, Saima Aziz.
The ACE director general stated in his request that the permission of the Speaker was required to arrest Saima in order to enable the ACE to submit a challan in court against the accused. Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, a parliamentarian from the PML-Q, said, “It seems that the PML-N failed to check the credentials of some candidates before granting them the party ticket. The top leadership is responsible for this oversight.”
When contacted, Saima Aziz said that she had been allotted the plot when she was Sanatzar’s vice chairperson to establish a vocational training centre for girls and a primary school for boys.
The school has been closed since the flood but the vocational centre has re-opened,” she said. Admitting that an FIR had been registered against her, Saima said that she had submitted an application to the chief minister for an “independent inquiry into the matter”. She said that she was not aware of the ACE seeking the Speaker’s permission for her arrest. If the Speaker gives his permission, she will be the second woman MPA of the ruling party to be arrested. The first one was former member Shumaila Rana who was arrested by the police for allegedly stealing and using two credit cards.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2010.
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