LAHORE: Punjab has recovered over Rs5.5 billion from officials and people allegedly involved in evading or misappropriating requisite fees, taxes, etc, related to land mutations.

The recovery was made by the Board of Revenue (BoR) in light of audit paras for the fiscal year 2022-23.

Since the audit for the year 2023-24 is also underway these days, actions are also being taken against the officers/officials involved in corrupt practices.

“In fact, officers, including sub-registrars, tehsildars, naib tehsildars, etc, show people ways to evade taxes (stamp duty, agricultural income tax, etc) during property mutations,” a senior BoR official told Dawn on Monday.

“In various cases, officials even collect full tax amounts from people but fail to deposit them into the government treasury. Ultimately, they are caught during audits by auditors or inspections by deputy commissioners, commissioners, and board members,” the officer explained, requesting anonymity.

He said besides recovery, the board has also taken disciplinary actions against the officials involved in such corrupt practices. There, according to him, are many who have been grilled under the rules and regulations according to gravity of offence.

He said the recovery of government dues is still underway in the light of the audit paras. The ongoing reforms in the revenue department would soon be completed with placement of a system that will not at allow anyone to dare doing so.

Meanwhile, a meeting at the BoR was held on Monday, presided over by senior member Nabeel Javed and attended by Member (Taxes) Zaman Wattoo and Secretary Rana Hamid. Additional commissioners (revenue) from all Punjab districts participated via video conference.

During the meeting, the SMBR disclosed the recovery of Rs5.529 billion. He emphasized that the digitization project at the BoR would ensure transparent recovery of government dues. He directed Additional Commissioners (Revenue) to expedite audit recoveries in their respective areas.

Recovery reports from various districts were reviewed. The SMBR also highlighted that, as part of a pilot project in three districts of Punjab, the powers of sub-registrars have been delegated to naib tehsildars. This initiative aims to reduce the workload on sub-registrar offices, enabling citizens to register documents conveniently at both Sub-Registrar and Naib Tehsildar offices.

He further instructed additional commissioners (revenue) to monitor the performance and authority of both Sub-Registrars and Naib Tehsildars to ensure accountability.

“There should be no injustice to citizens, as we will not tolerate it,” he warned.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2024