November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

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MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 29: AJK Chief Secretary Kashif Murtaza on Wednesday directed chief administrator of the Zakat and Usher department to look into complaints about alleged violation of rules in distribution of dowry funds by the head of a local Zakat committee and report back to him within three days.

Sources said that the secretary had received complaints that Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi, chairman of the Zakat committee for Muzaffarabad’s municipal limits, had distributed dowry funds without holding meetings of committee’s unofficial members as required by the relevant act and ancillary rules.

Official members of the committee include assistant commissioner and tehsil Mufti.

Under the rules governing the distribution of dowry funds, all deserving cases should be discussed and finalised in the meeting of local Zakat committee and minutes of the meeting be annexed with each case. The head of Zakat committee is bound to submit the complete record of all cases with the chief administrator's office after scrutiny.

However, Mr Qureshi had disbursed dowry funds, allocated for 22 cases within municipal limits of Muzaffarabad in the ongoing year, among 19 girls without observing the rules, the sources said.Every deserving case is entitled to receive an amount of Rs7,000 as dowry fund.

The sources said Mr Qureshi, himself drawing and disbursing officer, had issued the last cheque on June 13, 2006 whereas the unofficial members were appointed only two weeks ago.

The four unofficial members were appointed by the chief administrator's office “in consultation with Mr Qureshi”, according to a notification issued on Nov 13.

The sources said the chairman was trying to obtain approval of his deeds from the committee members, one of whom was allegedly his relative.

Interestingly, the sources said, district Zakat and Usher Committee chairman Riyaz Zargar had already served many notices on him to produce the relevant record but those had gone unheeded.

Mr Zargar was also said to have informed the authorities that Mr Qureshi, a local leader of the ruling Muslim Conference, was treating his orders with disrespect.

The sources said the chief secretary had termed the alleged violation a “serious matter” and asked the chief administrator to look into it and get back to him with detailed report within three days.