Inquiry committee declares DCs 'responsible' in fake domicile scandal

Inquiry committee declares DCs ‘responsible’ in fake domicile scandalARACHI: The inquiry committee probing into fake domicile scandal has sent its report to the Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah which declared deputy commissioners ‘responsible’, ARY News reported on Friday.

Deputy commissioners have been declared ‘responsible’ for the preparation and issuance of fake domiciles by the inquiry committee and sought to introduce more strict rules for Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC).

The committee also urged the provincial government to immediately the employees who have managed to get jobs on the basis of fake domiciles. It is demanded to hold a separate high-level inquiry to scrutinise domiciles issued during the last 10 years.

The report stated that more than 200 domiciles had been issued in four districts of Sindh in a specific time by using the addresses of factories and shops. The committee asked the provincial authorities to reject the students’ admissions in different education institutions besides cancellation of all illegally issued domiciles.

Earlier on June 3, the federal government had approached the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, demanding him to launch a probe into fake domiciles issue in the Sindh province.

In a letter written to the chairman NAB from Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, the latter asked him to probe into the matter as fake domiciles were used to recruit thousands of government employees in the province.

The Sindh government is acting against the rules for several years, it said as jobs on urban quota were given using fake domicile. The letter said that under the quota, these jobs were to be given to youth from Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur.

“5500 jobs from Hyderabad and 30,500 from Karachi were given on fake domiciles or while violating quota rules,” the letter addressed to the chairman NAB said.

This illegal process is continuing in the province since 2006 and employees from grade 1 to grade 22 took advantage from these illegal recruitments, said Shahzad Akber while demanding a thorough inquiry into the matter.

It is pertinent to mention here that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had also demanded Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah to conduct judicial inquiry and forensic audit into provincial recruitment process during 2008 on fake domiciles.