The Anti Corruption Establishment on Friday arrested two members of a returning officer’s staff on corruption charges. ACE officials said the two men had confessed to receiving Rs22,540 from candidates in three constituencies.
According to ACE officials, the complainant, Hasnain Mehmood Khan, a court clerk, had dropped a written complaint in the complaint box placed at the sessions court in this regard.
It accused stenographer Muhammad Elyas and naib qasid Muhammad Zafar Iqbal of receiving bribes. Both worked at the court of Arif Mehmood, the returning officer for NA-81, PP-63 and PP-64.
On Friday, Judge Muhammad Rasheed Qamar, the district returning officer, summoned Mehmood and the two accused to his office.
During preliminary interrogation, ACE officials said, the stenographer and the naib qasid revealed that they had taken money from Chaudhry Saeed Iqbal, Nadeem Aftab Sindhu, Kashif Randhawa and Shabbir Khan.
They reiterated that the candidates had given them the money for “sweets” over the acceptance of their nomination papers.
They told the judge that Mehmood was not in his office at the time the money was taken.
The money was recovered from the stenographer’s office cupboard. ACE officials said the judge had also ordered a departmental inquiry and action against the two. Additional Sessions Judge Imtiaz Hussain has been appointed as the inquiry officer.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2013.