MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Kashmir Mineral and Industrial Development Corporation (AKMIDC) and its relevant industries and commerce secretariat have locked horns with each other on the auction of precious and semi-precious stones scheduled for April 24 in Kashmir House, Islamabad.

While the former has been adamant on going ahead with the auction, the latter has expressed reservations about the process and stressed its postponement until the fulfillment of the procedural requirements and determination of the ownership of the extracted commodity, it has been learnt from the official correspondence between them.

According to the Schedule II of the Rules of Business 1985, AKMIDC is a special autonomous institution of the industries and commerce secretariat.

In November last year, the secretariat asked the AKMIDC to propose rules, regulations and a comprehensive procedure for extraction, protection, grading, valuation and auction of precious gemstones.

On April 7 this year, the secretariat moved a summary for the approval of minister for AKMIDC Sardar Qamaruz Zaman to constitute an ‘evaluation/grading committee’ and an ‘auction committee’ for the estimation of reserve price of gemstones and transparency of the auction process.

It may be mentioned that Mr Zaman is basically minister for health but he was additionally allotted AKMIDC in January 2012. He himself has acknowledged many a time that he has a passion for gemstones and also deals in them.

Paying no heed to the secretariat’s reservations, the AKMIDC got published an advertisement on April 8, offering ruby and tourmaline for sale on April 24, a day after their exhibition for the sake of registration of interested bidders/buyers at the Kashmir House, Islamabad.

Early this month, in a letter to the AKMIDC, the directorate of mineral resources maintained that the corporation had resorted to unlawful extraction of ruby in Neelum Valley’s Chitta Katha mine.

According to director mineral resources, a one-year ‘ruby exploration permit’ was given to the AKMIDC for Chitta Katha mine on October 5, 2005, and afterwards no mining permit or mining lease was issued in its favour.

“However, nevertheless, the corporation had extracted 285,054 grams of gemstone between 2006-2012 and 57,583 grams in 2012-13, which amounted to unlawful extraction/theft under the AJK Mining Concession Rules 2002,” he had maintained.

In at least two letters to AKMIDC in a week, the directorate lamented that instead of returning the “unlawfully” extracted gemstones, the corporation had initiated the auction process, which ought to be stopped until the ownership of the commodity was settled.

Separately, the industries and commerce secretariat also asked the AKMIDC to put the auction process on hold unless proper approval from the government was obtained and committees already proposed were established.

However, the AKMIDC chairman, Mirza Wajahat Rashid Baig, responded that corporation’s Board of Directors (BoD) had unanimously decided that the valuation of gemstones would be done by a qualified gemmologist from Pakistan Gem and Jewellery Development Company (PGJDC) and reserve price and auction process would be supervised by the entire BoD, headed by the AKMIDC minister.

In compliance with the BoD decision, the PGJDC had been asked to depute an experienced and qualified gemmologist for valuation, he said. On the issue of government approval, Mr Baig said the competent forum for the purpose was the BoD and not the government.

Hitting back, the secretariat regretted that instead of proposing a transparent policy the AKMIDC was questioning the competency of the government.

“While the summary sent to the minister on April 7 for government approval is under process, hasty auction of precious stones would not be (an) appropriate (step),” read the latest secretariat letter.

On April 18, AJK secretary industries and commerce Mohammad Akram Sohail had also directly written a four-page letter to Mr Zaman for the postponement of the auction.

However, sources said, the letter had so far gone unheeded. Dawn made calls and sent text messages to Mr Zaman and chief secretary but there was no response.