LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab seized over Rs16 million during various raids and retrieved state land worth about Rs680 million during the month of October, 2022.

This was disclosed during a meeting of regional directors presided over by ACE Director General Nadeem Sarwar on Monday and held to review the monthly performance of all regions of Punjab.

It was told that the anti-graft watchdog seized Rs16.67 million during various raids and retrieved government properties worth Rs681.7 million.

In October, the ACE Punjab submitted challans of 149 cases to relevant courts out of which 79 had been decided. Similarly, permanent prosecutors have been deputed to the anti-corruption courts to provide legal assistance during the same period.

It was further informed that actions under section 182 of CrPC were carried out in different regions on the submission of more than 20 false applications including 11 from Gujranwala. However, the ACE was working on to devise a counter strategy against touts and the people who submit false applications.

The ACE DG said 735 writ petitions were filed in the Lahore High Court out of which 674 are pending while 16 cases have been decided. He directed the regional directors to further improve the prosecution system for early disposal of pending cases in the high court.

According to Nadeem, they were also working on to further strengthen the ACE’s trap-raid system. The regional directors were given a deadline to complete pending inquiries by December 31, 2022, otherwise action would be taken against the negligent officers. The meeting decided that reports of high-profile cases of all anti-corruption regions will be sent to the ACE DG daily.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022