Anti-corruption body recommends cases against 48 govt officials

An important meeting of the Anti-Corruption Committee-1 of Sindh government’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has been held with Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah in chair, it was learnt on Saturday.

The meeting decided to lodge cases against some 48 officials and staffers of different departments and subsidiary agencies of the government for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices in the past as the initial inquires of Anti-Corruption Establishment against them stand completed.

Proper first investigation reports would be lodged against them containing corruption charges. It is learnt that a corruption case would be lodged against 13 officials of the Kotri effluent treatment plant, including its chief engineer, for their alleged involvement in corruption.

Another case of anti-corruption would be lodged against six staffers of Sindh Katchi Abdis Department, including its assistant engineer. The chief secretary, while chairing the meeting, gave approval to launching 10 open inquiries against officials of different departments.

Out of these open inquiries, six probes pertain to the Sindh Food Department, two inquiries relate to the Sindh Local Government Department, and one is relevant to the Sindh Health Department.

The meeting deferred its decision whether to lodge a case or not pertaining to a probe of the ACE into a matter related to unauthorised allotment of the amenity land reserved for the Mahmoodabad treatment plant in Karachi.

In this case of the treatment plant land, Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal was also probed by the ACE owing to his alleged association with the matter during his stint as Karachi administrator.

The PSP leader has already denied foul play in the issue, saying that the allotment of the treatment plant land for the resettlement of the people affected due to the Preedy Street Signal-free corridor project in the city was done through a formal resolution of the then City Council.

The Anti-Corruption Committee-1, which met after a long time, is the highest decision-making forum of the Sindh government for pursuing and disposing of corruption cases and inquiries pertaining to governance in the province.