ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Monday directed the boards of revenue of all the four provinces to explain the system which they follow to check corruption in the revenue departments.

The chief justice issued the directive after taking suo motu notice of the travails of a citizen at the hands of a Patwari (revenue official) published in an Urdu newspaper on June 23.

Chaudhry Naseer Ahmed of Chak Baily Khan, Rawalpindi, wrote to the newspaper that though he had paid the normal transfer fee and bribes demanded by Patwaris, the staff of the revenue department was not transferring the ownership of a seven marla residential plot that he had purchased.

‘Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan denounces the corruption of police and revenue officials in his speeches but the reality is that the police and Patwari openly oppress people in his very name, and more ruthlessly than they did in Musharraf era,’ Mr Ahmed alleged, seeking justice for himself.

Taking notice of the problems faced by the complainant, the chief justice asked the revenue departments of all the four provinces to explain any system being followed to check corruption in these departments.

Rampant corruption in the provincial revenue departments, especially among Patwaris, is a bane for the common citizens as it has become a dream to transfer any piece of land in the name of a new owner without greasing the palms of these lower-grade employees.

It is a common knowledge that Patwaris have become so influential that they can even distort land records for the vested interest or to facilitate land grabbing by influential figures in return for little favours.

The century old system of maintaining land records on a white sheet of linen called ‘Latha’ in the local parlance by the Patwaris to many means to hide wrongdoings and to create obstacles for the people only to push them to extend bribe.

Serious attempts or efforts to computerise the land record in different provincial revenue departments have always met with strong resistance since computerisation means introducing transparency in the system by minimising chances of fraud and discouraging monopoly.

Reportedly former premier Shaukat Aziz had shown interest in introducing computer system through a pilot project in the capital city of Islamabad but failed to implement as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) showed lack of enthusiasm by citing non-cooperation on part of the ICT administration’s revenue department.

Even the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) which reportedly has developed software to computerise the land record had complained of non-cooperation on part of the CDA as well as the local administration by not providing required data to the authority.