LAHORE: The Punjab Auqaf and religious affairs department has issued final recovery notices amounting to millions of rupees to the officials and employees concerned on charges of alleged corruption, financial irregularities and embezzlement of donations and cash offerings at shrines.

A former Auqaf manager (now dismissed) Tahir Maqsood, who was posted at the shrine of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh (RA), Lahore, has been served recovery notices amounting to Rs1.872 million and Rs11.325 million on account of mala fide and irregularities in the shrine’s cash collections during the annual Urs celebrations.

Likewise, a former administrator, Sheikh Jameel Ahmad, presently serving as a junior scale stenographer in Sargodha Zone office, has been issued notices for the recovery of Rs9.27m and Rs2.81m over alleged misconduct and discrepancies in Data Darbar cash collections during the Urs.

A former research assistant, Hafiz Javed Shaukat of Markaz-e-Maarif-e-Auliya, Mian Mir, Lahore, faces recoveries of Rs4.319m and Rs2.1m in connection with alleged financial irregularities during the Urs and Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) celebrations.

In a corruption case detected in Okara, a former manager (now dismissed), Shafqat Abbas, has been issued recovery notices amounting to Rs1.2m and Rs3.53m, while ex-rent clerk and currently junior clerk, Zawar Hussain, has been directed to pay Rs1.2m to the department.

Another suspect in the same case, ex-senior clerk (now dismissed), Amir Sattar, has been penalised under two separate decisions with recoveries amounting to Rs3.6m and Rs7.1m.

In a case involving alleged embezzlement of cash offerings at the shrine of Hazrat Bibi Pak Daman (RA), former manager and current audit officer, Zahid Iqbal, has been served with a recovery notice of Rs5.39m.

In a case pertaining to alleged financial irregularities in the donations collected at the shrine of Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah (RA), former manager, now a computer operator, Tariq Mahmood Najmi, has been directed to deposit Rs1.32m into the Central Auqaf Fund.

It may be mentioned that all the aforementioned officials and employees have filed appeals before the Punjab chief secretary in his capacity as the appellate authority.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2026