LAHORE: The Punjab auqaf department has handed down stringent punishments under the Peeda Act to two senior officials and some junior officers on proven administrative and financial corruption charges.

Secretary and Punjab Auqaf Chief Administrator Dr Ehsan Bhutta ordered major penalties against Asif Ejaz, Lahore headquarter ex-deputy director (admin) and currently posted as Dera Ghazi Khan deputy director estate (south) under the Peeda Act 2006.

Following the submission of the formal inquiry report on June 11 by inquiry officer Auqaf Director Estate Dr Shahid Yaqoob, a personal hearing was granted to the accused by the additional secretary (admin), who thoroughly appraised the documentary evidence and also proved the gravity of the allegations.

The order stated that six out of eight charges leveled against the accused were fully proved, while two charges were partially proved, establishing his direct involvement in severe misconduct and inefficiencies.

Asif Ejaz was charged for deliberately delaying the Peeda proceedings against Okara ex-manager Shafqat Abbas regarding the non-deposit of official revenue; employing delaying tactics regarding the PPSC-suggested regularisation of 10 contractual employees (six accountants and four assistants); withholding death grants and financial benefits from the legal heirs of deceased ex-manager Tahir Farooq Chughtai as well as forcefully ejecting the deceased manager’s widow and minor children from Quarter B-5 in violation of the Allotment Policy 2024. Furthermore, he made unauthorised field appointments of non-cadre officials – Sajid Zafar Bosan, Sheikh Jamil Ahmad, and Tariq Mehmood Najmi – to administrative posts of zonal administrator and manager; submitting fake and concealed data to S&GAD regarding pending show-cause notices; altering the category of official residence No A-3 in Auqaf Colony Shah Kamal, Lahore to facilitate its illegal allotment to Senior Scale Stenographer Sheikh Jamil Ahmad; and orchestrating four malicious Peeda show-cause notices against EXEN Headquarter Zohaib to pressurise him into spending millions of rupees on the said illegal residence.

Dr Bhutta, the competent authority, imposed major penalties upon Asif Ejaz, awarding “one step down lower grade for a period of five years” as well as “forfeiture of past five years of service”.

The chief administrator also ordered a complete ban on the future posting of the accused at the Auqaf Head Office or in the field as an administrator, restricting his placement to the finance or audit branch as an assistant director, while simultaneously ordering a fresh independent inquiry against all other beneficiary officers who unlawfully passed the agenda for the illegal allotment of house no. A-3.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION: The Auqaf chief administrator ordered disciplinary action under the Peeda Act, 2006, issuing final penalties against officials and employees after charges of gross negligence, financial misconduct, and misuse of authority at the shrine of Baba Bulleh Shah in Kasur were proved.

An inquiry conducted by a committee comprising the religious affairs director general and the finance/deputy secretary director confirmed the theft of cash amounting to millions of rupees from the donation boxes at the shrine of Baba Bulleh Shah.

Following a personal hearing and in light of the recommendations of both the inquiry committee and the hearing officer, former Auqaf manager Kasur Tariq Mahmood has been directed to repay Rs1.319m, while he along with former supervisors Riaz, Muhammad Sharif, and former watchman Ramzan, have been penalised with forfeiture of five years of service and permanently disqualified from handling cash or being posted at shrine establishments.

In yet another disciplinary case, former Jhang Auqaf manager Munir Ahmad Jam was awarded the penalty of withholding one annual increment for exceeding his authority by unilaterally increasing the lease amount of over 105 acres of waqf agricultural land in Faisalabad zone by 10pc without obtaining approval from the competent authority.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2026