ISLAMABAD: An illegal allotment issued to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) member Shaukat Ali was cancelled by the estate office on a complaint registered on the Pakistan Citizen Portal on Saturday, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to the details, a citizen had filed a written complaint addressed to the Ministry of Housing and Works (MoHW) secretary in regard to the illegal allotment of a house located in a posh sector of Islamabad on October 30, 2018.
In his complaint, the citizen had alleged that ex-Director General (DG) Customs Intelligence and Investigation Shaukat Ali had been allotted two government accommodations including one bungalow in Customs Colony Karachi and one bungalow in Islamabad, which is clearly against the law.
After not receiving any response from the MoHW even after the passage of a long time, the complainant filed a similar complaint on the Pakistan Citizens Portal. He stated that the MoHW secretary had sweeped the issue beneath the carpet by simply replying that “serious action was being taken against Shaukat Ali”; however, on inquiring via other sources it was revealed that the MoHW secretary was lying.
“Mr Prime Minister, no action was being taken because an officer of the Estate Office was personally involved in this case,” the complainant alleged while requesting the prime minister to issue orders for the necessary action to be taken.
Subsequently, on January 21, the complainant received a message that the matter had been forwarded to the estate officer via Housing and Works Division secretary. “The complaint is forwarded to Estate Officer for early action under intimation to this ministry as the respected complainant is not satisfied with the earlier action in the matter. Estate Officer is requested to kindly approach/call the complainant and resolve his issue,” it was stated in the reply.
On March 6, the complainant received an updated status on his complaint as “Closed – Relief Granted” with the remarks that “this office has issued several notices to Shaukat Ali and his department, FBR, by giving adequate time for clarification of his dual accommodation. However, no response has been received so far. Therefore, the allotment of House no. 124, Type-H, St. no. F-6/3 has been cancelled from the name of Shaukat Ali, Director, Federal Board of Revenue on 06.03.2019”.
It is pertinent to mention that Shaukat Ali previously served as the DG Customs Intelligence and Investigation, Collector Sales Tax and other positions and FBR had sidelined the former DG from the position on corruption charges.
Moreover, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is also investigating a corruption case against Shaukat Ali in connection with the same allegations.
