Lack of transparency in distribution of Baitul Mal and Zakat and funds stir the Supreme Court to take the matters of the scrutiny in their hands. The court took the opinion of religious authorities in using the funds – whether to use the funds for administrative purposes like paying salaries and day-to-day expenses, or not.
A five-judge SC bench, chaired by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, looked into the case of measures taken by both – federal and provincial – governments to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting ordered the authorities to take the former judge of the Shariat Appellate bench of the apex court, Council of Islamic Ideology, and Mufti Taqi Usmani into confidence into the matter of using the funds for paying salaries and day-to-day expenses.
The court also drafted a report highlighting the criteria for selecting families and the respective breakdown of the amount paid to them, along with the administrative expenses incurred for the stated purpose.
The court wondered how the amount collected through people’s contribution could be used for foreign trips, TA/DA and/or salaries, adding that transparency is must in funds distribution.
