Documentary record of Miani Sahib Graveyard (MSG) area is not available and several discrepancies of measurement have been found during the demarcation of as most of the land was encroached by houses and shops constructed long ago. This was revealed by a report submitted by Member Colonies, Board of Revenue before Lahore High Court (LHC).
Efforts were being made to trace out the original record to finalise the exact demarcation and reconcile the discrepancies. Member Board of Revenue (BoR) Najam Saeed prepared the report regarding illegal encroachment in Miani Sahib Graveyard on the directions of Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi of Lahore High Court while hearing a petition filed by a former MSG committee member Syed Muhammad Shah, challenging the sale of a land of Miani Sahib Graveyard to the LDA.
The demarcation of the graveyard, which divided in seven blocks from A to G, was carried out with the assistance of concerned revenue officers and other staff. The member colonies in his report said that block F being most different one required extra efforts and time for completion of the final report and demanded at least three weeks for finalising the report this block.
Earlier in this case an audit company had already been filed five years (1999 to 2003) audit report of MSG Committee accounts and the record of remaining five years (2004 to 08) was not available. The audit report submitted before the court on the previous date of hearing had also confirmed grave irregularities in the accounts including unjustified expenditures.
The committee also failed to maintain the graveyard in its original shape and could not stop unauthorised encroachment, the report added. The report said that there were numerous huge expenditures made under the head of construction and maintenance but the auditor was unable to verify these payments due to unavailability of documentary evidences. The judge directed the Secretary Local Government and Secretary MSG Committee to provide accounts record of remaining five years to the audit firm for the purpose of audit within next three days and adjourned the proceedings till January 23.