Putting foot down: Accountability court restrained from indicting former FDMA DG

Arshad was arrested for embezzling money meant for military operation affectees

PESHAWAR:

Amidst a host of troubles encircling him, former FATA Disaster Management Authority DG Arshad Khan can heave a sigh of relief as the Peshawar High Court has put its foot down in his case.

The high court has restrained the accountability court from framing charges against Arshad. The former DG was arrested for embezzling money that was set aside for Mohmand Agency military operation affectees.



A division bench of Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaiser issued the order while hearing Arshad’s petition. The accused was serving as home and tribal affairs additional secretary when he was handcuffed.

His counsel, Barrister Waqar Ahmad told the court that NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had arrested Arshad in case of alleged embezzlement of funds that were meant to be paid to Mohmand Agency affectees. He said once Arshad’s physical custody expired, he was sent to Central Prison Peshawar. NAB arrested him yet again in a similar case of forking away money meant for Bajaur Agency operation affectees. “Since both the cases are of similar nature, separate references of corruption cannot be filed. Under the law, charges should be framed at once and not separately,” said Ahmad.

After hearing the arguments, the court restrained the accountability court from indicting Arshad in the Mohmand Agency case and sought comments from NAB DG.

The bureau roped Arshad in on April 3 in the Mohmand case. The high court had already dismissed his bail plea. The charges stated that the government had announced a compensation of Rs0.16 million for the owner of every house that was partially damaged during the fighting and Rs0.4 million for the owner of every house destroyed completely. It added 122 survey forms were discovered of which 73 were bogus while 49 were unverified.

In the second case, NAB claims Arshad and his assistant director Irfanullah misappropriated Rs300 million that was released for Bajaur Agency residents. The amount was stated to have never reached the deserving affectees and was instead embezzled by the suspects.

Under the Housing Uniform Assistance Subsidy Project, the federal government and USAID paid compensation to displaced tribespeople whose houses had been damaged in the military offensives against militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th,  2015.