The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Accountability Bureau have arrested a
number of senior officials of the Income Tax, Excise and Taxation
(IT/E&T) department and the AJK Council on charges of corruption and
financial embezzlement.
The officials were arrested in a raid
conducted at the IT/E&T office complex after the accountability
bureau issued arrest warrants for Commissioner Income Tax, Excise and
Sales Tax Qaiser Iqbal; acting Commissioner Income Tax, Excise and Sales
Tax Mirza Zulfiqar; and AJK Council Joint Secretary Qaiser Majeed on
Friday.
The move, however, sparked protest by members of the
IT/E&T department, who boycotted duties and staged a sit-in in front
of the office complex. They maintained that the accountability bureau
does not have jurisdiction to take action against the department.
A
senior official of the AJK Accountability Department, requesting
anonymity, said the arrest warrants were issued under section 35 of the
AJK Ehtesab (Accountability) Act after the officials were found
hindering investigations into cases with the accountability bureau in
which they have been accused of corruption, misuse of power and
embezzlement of million of rupees of public money.
He said that the
arrested officials were earlier served three to four notices to respond
to the allegations levelled against them of unlawful refunds and
exceptions of millions of rupees, but they did not comply.
He said
that during the raid, required official records pertaining to the
advance payment of millions of rupees in a mega contract and other
irregularities were also confiscated.
"We were compelled to arrest
them," said the bureau official, adding that the officials were "not
harassed or disgraced in any way". He, however, did no mention the
number of officials arrested.
Pen-down strike by income tax department officials
The
protesting staff accused the accountability bureau of harassing
officials of the income tax department during the raid and announced to
boycott duties until the removal of AJK Accountability Bureau Chairman
Justice Hussain Mazhar Saleem.
A spokesperson of the protesting staff
said the IT/E&T department extended "full cooperation" to the
accountability bureau, "but in spite of that it arrested and harassed
officials of the department". He said that the officials' arrest was
unlawful as the E&T department is a subordinate organisation of the
AJK Council and hence does not fall under the purview of the AJK
Accountability Bureau. He accused the chairman of the accountability
bureau of "intervening in the internal administrative affairs of the
IT/E&T department".
Non-gazetted employees disassociate from protest
The
non-gazetted employees of the AJK IT/E&T department disassociated
itself from the strike and termed it "unlawful". Mahboob Raza, the
interim president of the department's non-gazetted employees, told
reporters that majority of the employees are not taking part in the
protest as only 20 to 25 officials of the department, out of the
existing strength of over around 120, are protesting.
Raza alleged
that IT/E&T department's commissioner, deputy commissioner, Special
Assistant to Commissioner Aasim Shoukat, Assistant Commissioner Muhammad
Ashraf and the Mirpur-based Taxation officer were compelling the junior
staff to protest so as to "conceal their corruption".
He demanded a
high-level probe into to unlawful refunds and exceptions of millions of
rupees during the IT/E&T department's incumbent commissioner. "The
corrupt must be brought to task," he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2012.