Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 12: The Legislative Council House Committee (LCHC) , investigating the embezzlement of public money in JAKFED since 1987 to 2000, today sought details of senior officers, who had remained posted in the Co-operative body during the period of irregularities.
The LCHC, which met under the chairmanship of Khalid Najeeb Suhrawardhy, former Minister and MLC, has given JAKFED authorities a week’s time to furnish the list of the senior officers to ascertain from them the details of the records and total amount embezzled during past over two decades.
During budget session of the Legislature, there had been massive uproar on couple of occasions in the Legislative Council over large-scale irregularities in JAKFED in which funds worth several crores had been swindled.
Other members, who attended the LCHC meeting, included Naresh Kumar Gupta (Congress), Syed Rafiq Ahmad Shah (Nationalist Panthers Party) and Mohammad Ashraf Mir (People’s Democratic Party).
The House Committee discussed the embezzlements and examined the records furnished by JAKFED on Pillai Committee report. It observed that the records were not satisfactory as the Pillai Committee report had stated that the concerned authorities of JAKFED had destroyed most of the records from time to time.
Official sources said the House Committee has asked the JAKFED authorities to submit a detailed list of the Managing Directors, General Managers, Managers and other senior staff members, who had worked on sensitive posts along with their tenure and place of posting from 1987 to 2000 within a week’s time for further scrutiny by the Panel.
“The record of senior officers would help the Committee to depose before it and explain their position and the information they had about the embezzlement including destruction of record,’’ sources said.
They added that the Committee was of the view that before recommending any action against the defaulters, it should be ascertained as to how much amount has been recovered from the defaulters since last over two decades.
The Committee decided to hold another meeting soon after the JAKFED authorities submit the requisite information to help it investigate the scam further.
Admitting that record, which has allegedly been destroyed by the JAKFED officers, could become an obstacle in the investigations being conducted into the scam by the House Committee. However, they were confident that the officers posted in JAKFED at senior posts during the period of scam and follow up years could give important information to then not only about the scam but subsequent destruction of the records to save the accused.
Among others, Secretary Legislative Council Muhammad Ashraf and Deputy Secretaries GM Bhat and Khursheed Ahmad also attended the meeting of the House Committee, sources said.
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