May 10, 2002	Friday	Safar 26, 1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, May 9: Shortage of staff and absence of cooperation among various government departments is hampering the process of investigation in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Ehtesab Bureau, a spokesman for the organization said on Thursday.

Talking to Dawn, he said that it was unfair to compare the AJK Ehtesab Bureau with the national and regional accountability bureaus in Pakistan because the latter had been provided with the services of skilled people not only from the FIA but also from abroad to detect white-collar crimes.

On the contrary, the spokesman said the AJK Ehtesab Bureau was running its business through police, who did not have required expertise to carry out this task.

The AJK Ehtesab Bureau was established in September 2000 through an Ordinance and it was later approved by the Legislative Assembly. Former judge of the AJK Supreme Court, Justice Basharat Ahmed Sheikh, is its chairman, whereas the deputy chairman and some other officials are serving army officers, posted for a certain term.

Giving details of the bureau’s working, the spokesman said that 49 references had been so far filed by it in the accountability courts, of which 21 had been disposed of. In 15 references, the accused were convicted whereas in the remaining cases they were absolved, he said, adding that appeals against the exoneration by the accountability courts were pending in the superior courts.

He further said that 12 references were currently under investigation and eight of them would shortly be sent to the court. Investigations under the Ehtesab Act had been ordered in 68 cases, but due to shortage of staff it could not be initiated. Similarly, inquiries on 63 complaints had also been ordered and were under way.

He also noted that the bureau had recovered the amounts embezzled through the unjust and politically-motivated spending of Zakat Profit Fund, besides recovering million of rupees from influential defaulters of government guest houses.

However, he pointed out that absence of technical experts such as engineers and handwriting experts was a main hurdle in carrying out the investigations.