GUJRAT, April 18: The Punjab government has sealed the office of Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry reportedly on the charges of some irregularities and malpractices.
Chamber sources told Dawn that the higher authorities concerned have sealed the chamber of commerce due to some irregularities being indicated by some members of the opposition who had developed differences with the ruling group especially with the president Chaudhry Iftikhar.
The exact details of the irregularities could not be obtained immediately.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in Lahore, Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) president Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmad said the Gujrat district government, which had no legal authority to seal the chamber, had taken the action at the behest of the provincial government.
He said businessmen and traders of the city would go on strike from April 28 if the decision to seal the chamber was not revoked.
Other members of the GCCI were also present at the conference. They said they would also approach the court for relief against the illegal decision of the provincial government. However, they said, they were hopeful that the matter would be resolved amicably before that.
Mr Ahmad said under the law only the DTO had the powers to seal a chamber. “We have not received any order for sealing the record of the chamber from the DTO. Therefore, We are unable to understand why the district government has taken such an action on its own,” he added. He said the provincial government could interfere in the affairs of a trade body only in case a law and order situation arises.
Mr Ahmad said the record of the GCCI had been sealed by a magistrate in compliance with directions issued to the DCO by the Punjab Service and General Administration Department vide letter No: S1.2-40/2001 dated April 16, 2003.
“This clearly shows that the chief minister is behind this decision,” he said. He said the provincial government had taken this decision because of the repeated failure of some favourites of the chief minister in the chamber elections during the last three years.
The chamber had been sealed in 1994, when Ch Ahmed Mukhtar was federal commerce minister.
