Loops in the law: Early hearing applications of Ziaullah, Liaqat accepted

Ehtesab arrests deemed illegal as they were made before its official operational date

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has accepted early hearing applications of former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa mines and mineral development minister Ziaullah Afridi and Mines and Minerals Director General Dr Liaqat Ali. The bail hearing has been fixed for Tuesday (today).

Although the bail petitions were fixed to be heard on October 13, both Ziaullah and Liaqat filed applications, pressing for an early hearing.

This request was made following the notification issued by K-P chief secretary on September 14 that stated K-P Ehtesab Commission was set up on the said date.

“If the Ehtesab Commission became operational from September 14, what is the legal position of all those arrests made in corruption cases before this date?” Barrister Mudasir Ameer, counsel for Ziaullah, asked the court. Aminur Rehman, counsel for Liaqat, also questioned the legality of the arrests and said, “The EC was given retrospective effect to investigate corruption cases from 2004, which is an entirely separate issue, but all the arrests made before the chief minister’s notification are illegal.”

The court then fixed the bail petitions of Ziaullah and Liaqat for Tuesday.

In the past

Ziaullah and Liaqat were arrested on July 9 and June 17 respectively in illegal mining cases.

On September 3, a division bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaiser dismissed the ad interim bail of Ziaullah in two cases of corruption and ordered a hearing of his regular bail on September 10. However, the case was adjourned to a later date.

Ziaullah was granted interim bail in one case on August 24 by Justice Musarat Hilali but was not released because two other cases of illegal mining from Charsadda and Abbottabad were registered against him.

The Ehtesab Commission arrested Ziaullah Afridi on July 9 in a case related to illegal mining in Mamakhel, Nowshera.

In August, two more cases of a similar nature from Charsadda and Abbottabad were registered against him where Ziaullah was accused of embezzling Rs6 billion through illegal mining and making unlawful appointments and transfers in the department during his tenure.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2015.