References filed against violations of codal formalities in AJK Council

Posted by on June 28, 2012 in Kashmir | Comments Off

References filed against violations of codal formalities in AJK Council

by Tariq Naqash on Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 5:40am ·

     By Tariq Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, June 27: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Council, an institution being run from the AJK taxpayers’ money, has long been violating codal formalities and applications of pre-audit checks in deals worth millions of rupees, forming the basis of two references to the AJK Ehtesab Bureau, it has been learnt.

In just one of many such cases, a fictitious expenditure of Rs 119.5 million had been shown purportedly for automation work of the Income Tax Department in Mirpur as the then Accounts Officer of the AJK Council had not applied pre-audit checks before release of this huge amount, documentary evidence available with this scribe revealed.

However, Malik Qaiser Majeed, Joint Secretary since 2007 of the AJK Council, was of the view that the “present Ehtesab Bureau is not competent to exercise its jurisdiction over the affairs of his institution.”

“We are a parallel government and do not fall under the purview of the present Ehtesab Bureau. We are going to set up our own body for accountability,” he told this scribe.

The AJK Council, it may be mentioned here, was established under the AJK’s interim Constitution Act 1974 apparently “to serve as a bridge between the governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad.” However, officials and public in AJK believe that it has turned itself into a parallel government and has largely evaded scrutiny of its spending by investigating and accounting bodies of Pakistan or AJK.

The main source of Council’s income is 20 per cent of the taxes generated from the AJK territory which it claims it spends on the administrative expenditure of its secretariat in Islamabad, development activities (in Pakistan and AJK) and other miscellaneous heads.

The AJK income tax department, AG office and the Directorate General of Audit fall under the administrative control of Council and it has a key role in the appointments in AJK’s superior judiciary. The AG office is responsible for maintaining pre-audit checks and post audit of vouched accounts of both the AJK government and the Council.

Sources told this scribe that the violation of codal formalities and applications of pre-audit checks was going on in the Council for several years. On June 5, AJK’s Accountant General (AG) Tahir Mahmud, asked the Council’s Accounts Officer (AO), Haq Nawaz Abbasi, to submit monthly accounts with complete vouchers and other supporting documents.

However, Mr Abbasi, posted in the Council secretariat some five years ago, did not comply with the direction, despite several verbal and one written reminders, because according to an audit report (2011-12) of the AJK Council, “he was not only avoiding observance of codal formalities but also cheating the AG office and in doing so causing huge financial losses to the national exchequer,” sources said.

AG Mahmud finally recalled Mr Abbasi from the Council secretariat and replaced him by a senior most deputy accountant general besides filing two references against him in the AJK Ehtesab Bureau, sources added.

However, in a surprise move Mr Mahmud was himself unceremoniously transferred by the Auditor General of Pakistan’s office on June 20 through a ‘flawed order,’ which however remains in limbo owing to serious reservations and resentment in the higher echelons of power here as well as intervention of the federal secretary Kashmir and GB affairs division.

Interestingly, the first order made by Mr Noora Khan, who was posted in place of Mr Mahmud, was reversal of Mr Abbasi’s transfer. However, like his own posting that order remained unimplemented as well.

According to sources, official quarters in AJK were already concerned about the state of affairs in the Council and some three months ago AJK Ehtesab Bureau had also sought details of some deals from the Council secretariat.

Sources said the Council had made investments in various commercial banks and financial institutions without seeking approval of or providing information to the AG office.

Not only this, it had been executing some projects at exorbitantly high costs and making excess/irregular/unauthorised payments worth millions without technical sanction of estimates and schedule of rates, they said.

Acting on complaints, former secretary Kashmir and GB affairs division, Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, had constituted a 3-member committee, comprising AJK Council’s chief planning Munawwar Shah, AG Mahmud and AJK secretary works Akram Sohail to look into some of these issues.

In their findings, Mr Sohail and Mr Mahmud had also objected to excessive construction costs without technical sanction as well as non-observance of codal and legal formalities.

When Mr Majeed was asked as to how such brazen violations of codal formalities were allowed to take place for years together, he replied that he was wrong person to be asked this question and it should have been put to Mr Abbasi, instead.

“In fact it’s an internal matter of the AG office and their Accounts Officer in AJK Council and they are responsible for it. We have nothing to do with it and prior to that I had no knowledge about it,” claimed Mr Majeed who is the Council since 2004.

He also dismissed allegations regarding financial irregularities and exorbitant construction costs, but admitted that until last year there was no schedule of rates in the Council.

It may be recalled that early in March, Mr Majeed had declined to provide some information to AJK Ehtesab Bureau, maintaining that the incumbent chairman was not competent to exercise his jurisdiction over the affairs of the Council “because he had been appointed by the AJK President without consultation of AJK Council chairman (Prime Minister of Pakistan).”

Ends

About K4Kashmir

PROFILE OF Dr SHABIR CHOUDHRY Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in Nakker Shamali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and holds a dual nationality. Dr Shabir Choudhry has done extensive research on the issue of Kashmir and Indo Pakistan relations. He passed BA Honours in Politics and History, and Mphil in International Relations (title of the thesis, ‘Kashmir and Partition of India’); and title of his PhD thesis is ‘Kashmir- An issue of a nation not a dispute of a land’. Apart from this Dr Shabir Choudhry passed Post Graduates Certificates in Education, and NVQ Assessor’s qualifications; and taught English in London. Political Achievements Founder member of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front established in 1977) and got elected as a Press Secretary in 1984. • Became its Secretary General in 1985, and resigned from this post in 1996. • Got elected President of JKLF and Europe in May 1999, and decided not to contest in elections of July 2001. • Said good - bye to the JKLF as it is in many groups and is largely seen as advancing a Pakistani agenda on Kashmir dispute, and set up a new party Kashmir National Party in May 2008. . At present, he is: • Spokesman Kashmir National Party and Director Diplomatic Committee; • Founder member and Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs; Previously • A founder Member and Trustee/ Director of London based registered charity, Kashmir Foundation International and resigned from this position in August 2001. • Regularly take part in the Sessions of the UN Human Rights (Commission) now Council in Geneva; and address various conferences and seminars to oppose violence and highlight the Kashmir cause. • Have addressed dozens of seminars and conferences in the British Parliament, European Parliament and other important capitals of the world on issue of Kashmir, violence and terrorism. • Addressed as a key note speaker in a Conference at New Delhi arranged by Jawahar Lal Nehru University. • Participated in a Round Table Conference on Kashmir, organised by Socialist Group of European Parliament in Brussels in 1993. • Addressed as a Chief Guest in a seminar on issue of Mangla Dam during the UN Sub Commission’s proceedings in August 2003. • Addressed as a key - note speaker in a seminar on the issue of Gilgit and Baltistan, organised by Association of British Kashmiris. • Addressed as a keynote speaker on human rights conference in Paris in 1991. • Addressed at Cambridge University as a Chief Guest in a conference on Kashmir in 1990. • Addressed as a keynote speaker at New Delhi conference on Kashmir, which was part of Track Two diplomacy in November 2000. • In September 2008, addressed a Conference arranged by Interfaith International in Geneva, topic of which was: “Kashmir Issue, Terrorism and Human Rights”. • Addressed as a speaker in a NGO Conference on Self - Determination in Geneva in August 2000. • Addressed as a keynote speaker in a fringe meeting of Liberal Democrats at their Annual Conference in Brighton in 1995. • Participated in World Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993. • Before President Clinton's visit to India and Pakistan in 2000, lead a JKLF delegation to the State Department to discuss Kashmir dispute and situation in South Asia. • Also had two rounds of meetings with senior State Department officials before President Musharraf’s meeting to Washington in June 2003. • Apart from that had meetings with senior officials including Ministers of different countries, and also held many meetings with the State Department and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials on number of occasions. • Played important role in advancing a Kashmiri perspective on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir; and also helped Baroness Emma Nicholson with her report ‘Kashmir: present situation and future prospects’, which was adopted by the European Parliament in May 2007. • Won first prize in an essay competition in Urdu in 1976. It was organised by High Commission of Pakistan in London, and title of the essay was 'Qaaid-e- Azam's role in Islamic History'. • Apart from that have addressed conferences in Brussels, Geneva, Toronto, Islamabad, Delhi, and Publications • Got first Urdu novel ‘Fareena’ published at the age of eighteen. • Second Urdu novel ‘Bay-Khataa’ which was about the problems of Asian youths living in UK published in 1983. • Third Urdu book ‘Pakistan and Kashmiri struggle for independence’ published in 1990. • Fourth Urdu book is also on Kashmiri struggle, 'Is an independent Kashmir a conspiracy?' • Apart from that has twenty five books and booklets published in English on various aspects of the Kashmiri struggle. • Recent publications are: Kashmir dispute as I see it • Different perspective on Kashmir • JKLF visit to Pakistan Administered Kashmir • Kashmir Needs a Change of Heart • If not self - determination then what? • Emma Nicholson report- who has won? • Struggle for independence, Jihad or proxy war (Introduction by Baroness Emma Nicholson) • Why 22 October 1947 is important in Kashmiri history? • New dimensions of the Kashmiri struggle. The following books are published by a German company and available on www.amazon.co.uk • New Round of the 'Great Game', ISBN 978-3-639-33084-7 • Liberation Struggle, Jihad or a Proxy War, ISBN 978-3-639-33424-1 • Kashmir Dispute: New Dimensions and New Challenges ISBN 978-3-639-33566-8 • Kashmir Dispute and Peace in South Asia ISBN 978-3-639-33732-7 • Terrorism, Kashmir Dispute and Possible Solutions ISBN 978-3-639-34239-0 • Kashmir And The Partition of India, (my Mphil research) ISBN 978-3-639-34801-9 • Kashmir – an Issue of a Nation not Dispute of a Land, (my PhD research) 978-3-639-35593-2 • Are Kashmiris part of the Kashmir Dispute? 978-3-639-37225-0 • A brief background Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in a small village called Nakker Shamali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and like other people from the region, holds a dual nationality. He left secondary school in 1970 with no qualifications and began his life as a textile worker. In 1975 he started part time studies and passed Matriculation from Government High School Panjeri, passed ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from UK, and resumed full time degree course in 1981, and passed BA (Hons) in Politics and History in 1984. He continued full time and part time jobs until he got his Mphil. He passed his PGCE (Post Graduates Certificate in Education) in 1990, and then started full time job as a Lecturer. Due to health problems he resigned from teaching in 1999. At present he is self - employed, provides private tuition, translation and interpretation and consultancy. Through out his adult life he has actively worked for the cause of Kashmir, and even during long illness he effectively carried out his responsibilities as a leader of the JKLF, a ‘prolific writer’ and consistent campaigner of Rights Movement and peace in Jammu and Kashmir and South Asia. Dr Shabir Choudhry Email:drshabirchoudhry@googlemail.com Telephone: 0044 (0)7790942471

Comments are closed.