Hc directs acb to investigate former pdp minister

Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday directed Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to re-investigate the allotment of 10 shops by Municipal Committee Pampore in 2014 allegedly at the behest of

former PDP Minister Zahoor Ahmad Mir. A former settlement officer of the MC Pampore, AbdulHamid  Wani, has petitioned the courtalleging that the ACB did not carry out a thorough

investigation after hesubmitted a compliant with it. Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey directed the ACB to examine the matterafresh. The court directed the Commissioner Secretary,

GeneralAdministration Department (GAD), to intimate the action taken on the report ofthe State Vigilance Organization which was submitted to the department on May18, 2015. The court also

directed Director of the Urban Local BodiesKashmir to constitute a committee of officers of his Department excludingMunicipal Committee Pampore to submit the report about the assets of

theCommittee including the shops which were allotted without public auction. The officer, the court said, shall also submit records ofallotment of the shops questioned by the petitioner. The

petitioner submits before the court that he had filed acomplaint before Vigilance Commission saying former PDP Minister and MLAPampore Zahoor Ahmad Mir had, with connivance of officials of

MunicipalCommittee Pampore and Director Urban Local Bodies Kashmir, allotted a shopbelonging to MC Pampore without any permission to Idrees Ahmad Bhat of Pamore.He said that allotting the

shop to Bhat, who is the cousin of Mir, caused aloss of Rs 20 lakhs to the exchequer. Mir, the petitioner said, has also allotted 9 shops tovarious persons on nominal charges causing a loss

of over Rs one crore to theexchequer.