LAHORE: In a major crackdown on financial malfeasance, Auqaf department secretary and Punjab Auqaf chief administrator, Dr Ehsan Bhutta, has imposed strong departmental penalties and hefty monetary recoveries on three former officials under the Peeda Act 2006, following conclusive findings of corruption and embezzlement in the Urs Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh (2025) and Eid Miladun Nabi (2024) funds.

The competent authority dismissed former assistant director of Religious Affairs Hafiz Javed Shaukat from service with a recovery order of Rs6.42 million for orchestrating Rs16.31m in fraudulent disbursements including tax evasion, illegal book-printing advances, and a dubious iPhone purchase.

Furthermore, former administrator Sheikh Jamil Ahmed and former manager Tahir Maqsood were found guilty of a Rs17.86m embezzlement scheme involving fabricated urgency rules, flagrant tender violations to favour handpicked suppliers; consequently, Sheikh Jamil has been demoted to a lower post and pay scale for five years with a Rs2.80m recovery. Tahir Maqsood faced a three-year demotion with a Rs1.87m recovery.

In order to ensure absolute accountability, the chief administrator ordered the recovery of these sums from the convicts’ departmental dues or via civil/revenue laws, directed the submission of a formal reference to the ACE.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2026