LAHORE, Dec 3: The Chief Minister’s Secretariat is alleged to have forcibly taken away the entire equipment of the Punjab Entertainment Company, a venture that hit the snags after the present provincial setup took over, much to the shock of officials who have been left with nothing but an empty office.

Among the paraphernalia were the PEC’s computers containing important record without which the officials concerned were hardly equipped with essential knowledge of their functioning.

Expressing his dismay over the incident, Secretary Information Oriya Maqbool Jan, who is the company’s managing director, has sent a summary to the chief secretary, the PEC board of directors and P&D chairman Sami Saeed. A report that described the incident as violation of law highlighted the government’s apathy and said “the raiders trampled over the company rules.”

“Kindly withdraw the company from the information department and bring it under the direct control of the chief minister’s secretariat,” he said in his summary a copy of which was obtained by Dawn on Wednesday.

Mr Oriya Maqbool was not available for comment, but the incident was confirmed by the PEC staff members who said even chairs and crockery had been removed, leaving nothing for them to sit in the office. They said they were facing an uncertain future with the extreme step.

The PEC registered under the Companies Ordinance 1984 was the brainchild of the previous government of Pervaiz Elahi. But it became controversial after the PML-N government took over, which has not been able to wind it up despite its earnest desire because of legal complications.

An inquiry has also been conducted into the PEC affairs through a tribunal. And though the tribunal has reportedly submitted its report, sources fear that the alleged removal of the record saved in computers and files will make it hard to legally prove any wrong done in the past.

According to sources and the summary of the secretary information, a team of 12 officials of the chief minister’s secretariat arrived at the Upper Mall’s Scotch Corner office of the PEC on Nov 24 to possess its equipment. But the PEC officials demanded a written order issued by a competent authority to legally possess assets of the company. The orders were not produced and the team left in the evening.

The raiders again appeared the very next day allegedly without any orders and remained there till 5pm, making the PEC staff to hand over the equipment. Afterwards more men and Racecourse Police Station posse reached there and they allegedly started loading everything in trucks, finishing the operation at 2am.

The equipment valuing an estimated Rs5 million included telephone exchange and telephone sets, carpets, eight computers, one laptop containing accounting software, eight air-conditioners, a fax machine, furniture and even personal effects of the staff and petty cash of the company.

The computers and laptops contained financial and other record of the company. And even official files were taken away or thrown as garbage while ignoring all pleas of the staff, sources alleged.

They claimed that Accounts and Administration Executives Mehboob and Mehmood were detained for putting up resistance.

The PEC officials, who requested anonymity, said everything from computers to crockery had been taken away allegedly for the chief minister’s secretariat. “We will testify at all forums that the equipment has been taken away by the chief minister’s staff because if we don’t do that we will be held responsible for their removal,” a senior PEC official said.

The secretary’s summary said some 20 to 25 officers and officials of the chief minister’s secretariat, assisted by the Racecourse SHO, raided the PEC office and impounded its assets ranging from carpets, office furniture, a television, and computers to air-conditioners.

It said the raiders damaged sensitive LED video screens worth millions of rupees and their paraphernalia. It reminded the government that under the law, the company solely owned all its movable and immovable property and it was to be administered by the managing director.

The summary said the assets of the government-owned company could be taken over in a legal manner and without inviting the distrust of the local and foreign investors with whom it (the company) had entered into legal agreements. “This would have been more in harmony with the colour of a law-abiding administration,” it said.

The summary said the repercussions of the step, ostensibly ultra vires of the provisions of the company’s articles of association, might haunt at each step towards the smooth winding up of the company.

The third-party audit of the company as directed by the chief minister might prove a futile exercise as chaos following the unfortunate incident “may not leave the vital record intact.”

The secretary demanded that the equipment forcibly taken away should be returned to the PEC after matching its inventory with the company’s.

The government has already taken at least four cars and one luxury jeep of the PEC into possession. Some officials believe that these vehicles are parked in the CM’s secretariat while others claim that they are being used.