KARACHI: A special anti-corruption court has directed the director general (DG) of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to initiate an inquiry against officials allegedly involved in embezzling around Rs5 billion in tenders of the Sindh Workers Welfare Board (WWB).

The direction was issued by the special judge, Anti-Corruption Court (Provincial), on a direct complaint filed by a citizen, Tariq Mustafa, against the WBB secretary, director works and director finance; managing director of the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (SPPRA), contractors and others.

The complainant alleged that the officials had manipulated and fraudulently conducted the procurement process for development works with an estimated cost of approximately Rs5bn. The tenders were issued on March 20.

“In view of statement of complainant, matter requires further enquiry. The same be sent to director-general ACE for enquiry under 202 CrPC through responsible officials and report to this court to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the complaint. The complainant is directed to cooperate with the enquiry officer,” the court order said.

Manipulation of tendering process to award contracts to favourites alleged

It also directed submission of a report before the court within four weeks after receiving a copy of the order.

In his application, the complainant contended that the tendering process was subverted through collusion among the respondents, who allegedly embezzled a huge sum by awarding contracts to their “favourite contractors”.

The complainant further claimed that the tender advertisements were purportedly published by the officials in several newspapers mentioned in the procurement file.

However, the complainant claimed, after independent inspection, it was found that copies of these newspapers available in public markets, libraries and archives contained no such tender notices. He added that the published clippings placed in the procurement file were fabricated solely to create the impression of compliance.

“This manipulation was done intentionally to grant unlawful advantage to chosen firms. The tender advertisements were falsely shown as published in fake and non-existing newspapers… whereas the said notices were never actually published, and fabricated clippings were placed in the officials’ record to mislead audit and oversight authorities,” the application said.

The complainant further alleged that an official of the SPPRA had concealed the tender on its online portal. He claimed that although the tender was initially uploaded, it was deliberately hidden or archived within a few minutes, rendering it effectively inaccessible to the public and prospective bidders. “This concealment prevented genuine competition and was executed in collusion with SPPRA staff,” the complainant alleged.

The tendering process represents a gross and deliberate violation of the SPPRA rules, he states, adding that the mandatory provisions relating to transparency, open competition and fair publication were blatantly ignored. The respondents failed to obtain the required bid security and performance security from the contractors and, instead, accepted temporary pay orders, which were later returned and encashed, according to the complainant.

He submitted that the payments exceeding Rs1.25 billion were released to the favoured contractors within only two months of the tender advertisement, without any verification of work, physical inspection or progress certification, further showing criminal negligence and collusion.

He said that he had approached the DG ACE for initiating legal action against the respondents, but no action was taken against them.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2025