Minister speaks up: Ziaullah files request to attend assembly session

Says EC should arrest those against whom he filed FIRs

PESHAWAR: Former minister for mines and mineral development Ziaullah Afridi has complained against the failure to arrest those he had filed FIRs against for mining illegally.

This was said during the proceedings in a court of the Ehtesab Commission (EC) on Tuesday.

“I have registered 97 FIRs in the province, including 17 in Nowshera district, against those people who were involved in illegal mining,” Ziaullah told the court. “However, the police have failed to arrest a single person.”

Character assassination

The former minister said he has been subjected to character assassination because of his arrest. To make matters worse, pictures of him in jail have also been released on social media, he added.

Permission to attend

During the proceedings, Ziaullah filed a request to allow him to attend the current session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

“It is requested that a production order be issued for the current assembly session under rule 65A of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules 1988,” read a letter written to the speaker of provincial assembly. The letter was signed by the former minister.

Past and present

Ziaullah Afridi was arrested on July 9 for mining illegally and making unfair appointments in the mines and mineral department. He was produced before the court of judge Hayat Ali Shah by EC to extend his custody in the illegal mining case. The court was requested to grant 14 more days of his custody to complete the enquiry. However, only three days were granted.

At the time of arrest, the commission said the accused had caused a loss of Rs150 billion to the provincial exchequer. Furthermore, during his tenure, Ziaullah had also bypassed the provincial finance department and allotted leases.

During last month’s court proceedings, Additional Deputy Prosecutor General Qazi Babar Irshad said EC is recording statements of various people against the accused under Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code. Furthermore, EC also found a company that made Rs110 million during 2011-15 through illegal excavations.

However, Abdul Latif Afridi, Ziaullah’s counsel, informed the court that the commission obtained nothing from his client during his 26-day physical custody. He called the investigation of commission weak, saying it would be a waste of time to extend the custody.

The court then granted three days custody and handed over the accused to a EC team.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.