Miani Sahib graveyard body audit ordered

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered audit of accounts of Miani Sahib Graveyard Committee and summoned a personnel of a private chartered accountant company on Thursday (today). The judge ordered that the company would be given total access to the committee' record and directed secretary of the committee to facilitate the company in this regard.
The court, however, observed that expenses of the chartered company would be decided by the consent of all concerned parties.
The judge issued these orders in a petition of a former member committee Syed Muhammad Tariq Shah challenging the sale of land of the graveyard to the LDA and prayed to the court to get audit the finances of the committee.
Member colonies, board of Revenue, appeared before the court and sought three weeks time to conduct survey of the graveyard to access the exact area, area of graves, area possessed and area encroached upon illegally.
The court allowed him three weeks time to complete the task and directed the committee to facilitate him in this regard. The petitioner submitted on January 22, 2005, 3 kanals, 18 marlas and 275 square feet state land in Mozang was sold to the LDA at Rs 360,000 per marla for further allotment to 81 shopkeepers and victims of Chowk Chauburji Wasa drain.
The petitioner said the sale was against the Punjab Graveyards (Reservations and Maintenance) Act, 1958 and the Miani Sahib Graveyard Ordinance, 1962.
On court's order, DCO Lahore had already removed unauthorised occupants and sealed illegal shops from the site.
The member Colonies had also presented a report saying, chief minister Punjab on June 26, 1999 approved the resettlement of shopkeepers on the graveyard land.
It said that the Colonies member had opposed the transfer of the land free of cost and had pointed out that it could only be transferred as per the policy on payment of current market price.
The report assured the court that the matter had been re-examined and a summary had also been submitted to the chief minister, proposing to return the price received from the LDA and allotting alternate land to the 81 shopkeepers in one of the LDA's schemes.