LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has booked former Punjab governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema, a close aide to PTI chairman Imran Khan, as he failed to prove his innocence within a reasonable timeframe according to the department. Now his arrest is on the cards, The Friday Times (TFT) has learned.
Sources privy to this development confirmed to TFT that Cheema appeared to submit his reply on Thursday after repeated call-up notices, but in the reply he couldn't submit evidence that negated the charges of wrongdoing. Cheema is one of many PTI leaders who are now facing corruption investigations.
“We have documented evidence against him and the case against him is very strong,” a senior official said, adding that "nobody could save him from arrest now".
The curiously convoluted case of marriages and inherited properties
The former Punjab governor allegedly misused his constitutional position, and forged documents to get his sister Fatima Sarfraz Cheema’s share in the inheritance of her late ex-husband Dr Zaheer Safdar. Dr Safdar had divorced her a second time, which was confirmed on September 16, 2013. Cheema allegedly misused his position as governor and forced Patwaris to add his sister’s name.
As per details seen by TFT, Fatima Sarfraz Cheema married Dr Zaheer in 1989. They had two children, namely Asad Zaheer and Haram Zaheer. In 2003 she got divorce from Dr Zaheer via court, and married Shehbaz Khan on April 29, 2003. She divorced Shehbaz on September 15, 2005.
Whereas Fatima re-married Dr Zaheer on May 11, 2010, they got divorced again on September 16, 2013. The record of the second divorce is available in the office of union council Walton Cantt, and a certificate to the effect had been issued.
Sources maintain that there is another document which confirmed that Fatima was divorced and not a widow of Dr Zaheer. On October 13, 2020, Dr Zaheer filed a suit for declaration along with temporary injunction and cancellation of mutation after the death of his son, in which he also mentioned Fatima as daughter of Sarfraz Cheema and not his wife, and mentioned the divorce certificate which had been issued.
“Interestingly, Fatima had also replied to this civil suit, which shows that she had admitted that she is a divorcee and she is also aware about finality of their divorce. She never challenged it at any forum during the life of Dr Zaheer,” a senior official said.
It is pertinent to mention that Dr Zaheer married Mahwish Basharat on August 5, 2020. After his death on August 26, 2021, disputes arose amongst his heirs, and civil suits were filed by both parties.
An official told TFT that they submitted an application for inheritance transfer through Haram Zaheer, in which they allegedly showed Fatima as the widow of Dr Zaheer, and also got her (Fatima's) name added to the Family Registration Certificate (FRC).
One of the officials privy to this development said that the land record center marked this application to Patwari Muhammad Ilyas for confirmation of heirs, which remained pending for 7 to 8 months because of the ongoing conflict among heirs as well as civil suits. It included an injunction against the property concerned, in which the name of widow Mahwish was also appearing.
Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema ‘misused’ his powers
Interestingly, just two days after Omer Cheema took oath as Governor Punjab on April 4, 2022, the pending application was attested, adding Fatima’s name in the family tree of heirs. This was done allegedly without listening to Mahwish and by completely ignoring the injunction with the land record center. The property inheritance was approved and confirmed on April 7, 2022.
“At the time of transfer of inheritance, neither Fatima and Haram nor Mahwish were present. In fact, Ahmed Sarfraz Cheema, the brother of Punjab governor, and Ishrat Asad were present at the land record center, and we have evidence of that,” sources said.
A senior official at ACE told TFT that Ahmed Sarfraz Cheema, Fatima Sarfraz Cheema, Haram Zaheer Cheema and Ishrat Asad with the alleged help of Patwari Muhammad Ilyas, Revenue Officer Haq Nawaz, Naib Tehsildar and Land record officer Hafiz Mohsin Tariq, and with connivance of land record center Wazirabad, forged the documents and showed Fatima as widow. All this was done allegedly with the blessings of Omer Sarfraz Cheema, who according to ACE misused his position and forced officials to make the changes in record illegally, so that his sister gets the share in the nearly 87-acre property of her ex-husband.
Who moved the application against Omer Cheema?
The application against the former governor and her sister was filed by Mahwish Zaheer in ACE, after which they investigated the matter and gathered all the information and evidence. Based on the investigations, the former governor was asked to submit his reply.
In her application, Mahwish also alleged that both Haram and her mother were living with brothers Ahmed Sarfraz Cheema and Asad Sarfraz Cheema, who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the land acquired by Fatima and Haram.
“Earlier, the land Fatima had inherited in 2017 from her son Asad was also transferred to Ahmed,” she alleged.
'Political victimization'
Speaking to TFT, Omer Sarfraz Cheema denied any wrongdoing and explained that his sister and her family had a property dispute which had arisen after the death of his late brother-in-law, and he had nothing to do with it. “The other widow of my late brother-in-law, Mahwish had nominated me only to make it a high profile case,” he asserted.
Cheema maintained that the FRC and other documents were issued 7-8 months before his appointment as Punjab governor.
“How could I misuse my authority 7-8 months before becoming governor? These are baseless rumours and political victimization because we support Imran Khan,” Cheema responded.
Cheema added that his sister had challenged the second divorce in a court of law and the matter was sub judice.
"I never called anyone nor used my office to instruct anyone to do anything illegal," Cheema maintained, while conceding that "if my brother went to the land records office in his personal capacity, then I am not responsible for it".
Sources privy to this development confirmed to TFT that Cheema appeared to submit his reply on Thursday after repeated call-up notices, but in the reply he couldn't submit evidence that negated the charges of wrongdoing. Cheema is one of many PTI leaders who are now facing corruption investigations.
“We have documented evidence against him and the case against him is very strong,” a senior official said, adding that "nobody could save him from arrest now".
The curiously convoluted case of marriages and inherited properties
The former Punjab governor allegedly misused his constitutional position, and forged documents to get his sister Fatima Sarfraz Cheema’s share in the inheritance of her late ex-husband Dr Zaheer Safdar. Dr Safdar had divorced her a second time, which was confirmed on September 16, 2013. Cheema allegedly misused his position as governor and forced Patwaris to add his sister’s name.
“How could I misuse my authority 7-8 months before becoming governor? These are baseless rumours and political victimization because we support Imran Khan,” Cheema responded.
As per details seen by TFT, Fatima Sarfraz Cheema married Dr Zaheer in 1989. They had two children, namely Asad Zaheer and Haram Zaheer. In 2003 she got divorce from Dr Zaheer via court, and married Shehbaz Khan on April 29, 2003. She divorced Shehbaz on September 15, 2005.
Whereas Fatima re-married Dr Zaheer on May 11, 2010, they got divorced again on September 16, 2013. The record of the second divorce is available in the office of union council Walton Cantt, and a certificate to the effect had been issued.
Sources maintain that there is another document which confirmed that Fatima was divorced and not a widow of Dr Zaheer. On October 13, 2020, Dr Zaheer filed a suit for declaration along with temporary injunction and cancellation of mutation after the death of his son, in which he also mentioned Fatima as daughter of Sarfraz Cheema and not his wife, and mentioned the divorce certificate which had been issued.
“Interestingly, Fatima had also replied to this civil suit, which shows that she had admitted that she is a divorcee and she is also aware about finality of their divorce. She never challenged it at any forum during the life of Dr Zaheer,” a senior official said.
It is pertinent to mention that Dr Zaheer married Mahwish Basharat on August 5, 2020. After his death on August 26, 2021, disputes arose amongst his heirs, and civil suits were filed by both parties.
An official told TFT that they submitted an application for inheritance transfer through Haram Zaheer, in which they allegedly showed Fatima as the widow of Dr Zaheer, and also got her (Fatima's) name added to the Family Registration Certificate (FRC).
One of the officials privy to this development said that the land record center marked this application to Patwari Muhammad Ilyas for confirmation of heirs, which remained pending for 7 to 8 months because of the ongoing conflict among heirs as well as civil suits. It included an injunction against the property concerned, in which the name of widow Mahwish was also appearing.
Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema ‘misused’ his powers
Interestingly, just two days after Omer Cheema took oath as Governor Punjab on April 4, 2022, the pending application was attested, adding Fatima’s name in the family tree of heirs. This was done allegedly without listening to Mahwish and by completely ignoring the injunction with the land record center. The property inheritance was approved and confirmed on April 7, 2022.
“At the time of transfer of inheritance, neither Fatima and Haram nor Mahwish were present. In fact, Ahmed Sarfraz Cheema, the brother of Punjab governor, and Ishrat Asad were present at the land record center, and we have evidence of that,” sources said.
A senior official at ACE told TFT that Ahmed Sarfraz Cheema, Fatima Sarfraz Cheema, Haram Zaheer Cheema and Ishrat Asad with the alleged help of Patwari Muhammad Ilyas, Revenue Officer Haq Nawaz, Naib Tehsildar and Land record officer Hafiz Mohsin Tariq, and with connivance of land record center Wazirabad, forged the documents and showed Fatima as widow. All this was done allegedly with the blessings of Omer Sarfraz Cheema, who according to ACE misused his position and forced officials to make the changes in record illegally, so that his sister gets the share in the nearly 87-acre property of her ex-husband.
Who moved the application against Omer Cheema?
The application against the former governor and her sister was filed by Mahwish Zaheer in ACE, after which they investigated the matter and gathered all the information and evidence. Based on the investigations, the former governor was asked to submit his reply.
In her application, Mahwish also alleged that both Haram and her mother were living with brothers Ahmed Sarfraz Cheema and Asad Sarfraz Cheema, who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the land acquired by Fatima and Haram.
“Earlier, the land Fatima had inherited in 2017 from her son Asad was also transferred to Ahmed,” she alleged.
'Political victimization'
Speaking to TFT, Omer Sarfraz Cheema denied any wrongdoing and explained that his sister and her family had a property dispute which had arisen after the death of his late brother-in-law, and he had nothing to do with it. “The other widow of my late brother-in-law, Mahwish had nominated me only to make it a high profile case,” he asserted.
Cheema maintained that the FRC and other documents were issued 7-8 months before his appointment as Punjab governor.
“How could I misuse my authority 7-8 months before becoming governor? These are baseless rumours and political victimization because we support Imran Khan,” Cheema responded.
Cheema added that his sister had challenged the second divorce in a court of law and the matter was sub judice.
"I never called anyone nor used my office to instruct anyone to do anything illegal," Cheema maintained, while conceding that "if my brother went to the land records office in his personal capacity, then I am not responsible for it".