LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establish-ment (ACE) on Wednesday held a hearing into the Punjab University Town-III housing scam that was skipped by the accused professors.

The ACE issued call-up notices to PU Prof Dr Sajid Rashid, Dr Mahboob Hussain, Dr Azhar Naeem, former registrars Dr Khalid Khan, Dr Liaqat Ali and others on the allegations of financial irregularities and misuse of authority in Town-III affairs.

Additional Director General Waqas Hasan heard the parties at the ACE headquarters here.

Complainant Assistant Prof Dr Khurram Shahzad and other affactees of the housing “scam” told the ACE that the contract of the project worth Rs2.7bn was awarded to a firm without following any transparent procedure.

It was alleged that some professors of the project’s management committee got huge monetary benefits.

The complainants said that after a lapse of seven years, the whereabouts of the developed plots were not known, while the accused had been using the project money for their personal benefits. The professors who are facing these allegations could not turn up to defend themselves.

The ACE ADG assured the complainants of action on merit.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2023