Illegal mining scam Ousted K-P minister’s bail plea rejected

Ex-minister claims he launched crackdown on illegal mining

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bail application of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s former mines and minerals minister in cases of misuse of authority and corruption.

Ziaullah Afridi, who was expelled from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf over the charges, was arrested on July 9 for alleged misappropriation of billions of rupees through illegal mining. K-P’s Ehtesab Commission later registered two other cases against him for alleged illegal mining in Charsadda and Abbottabad.

Afridi was accused of involvement in illegal mining in Nowshera district as well as unlawful appointments and transfers in the mines and minerals department during his tenure as minister.

On Tuesday, a three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, took up Afridi’s plea against the Peshawar High Court’s September 22 verdict, according to which his bail application was declined.

His lawyer Akram Sheikh claimed before the bench that during Afridi’s tenure, strict action was initiated against those involved in illegal mining. More than 497 reports were submitted to the police, and FIRs were registered against the culprits in 205 cases, said Sheikh.



Afridi’s petition claimed that the former MPA had repeatedly requested Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to take necessary steps for recovering the various government dues and for penalising those involved in illegal mining. “The CM repeatedly ignored the requests.”

The petitioner claimed to have raised the issue of illegal mining before PTI Chairman Imran Khan as well, which allegedly resulted in a confrontation between CM Khattak and Afridi.

Rejecting all the allegations levelled against him, the ex-minister said his detention was illegal. He added that he was unfairly denied bail, especially since the possibility of filing a reference against him was nowhere in sight, and no further evidence could possibly be collected from him after detaining him for more than 100 days.

He said the high court had erroneously attributed the postings and transfers of 13 directors general to him, adding that the court had misread the record, and overlooked the fact that the postings and transfers were on account of medical leave, retirement, etc.

“The high court should have preferred a more liberal approach in construing the law where the question of liberty of a person is involved, especially in cases where there is a clear requirement for further inquiry into the petitioner’s guilt,” said the petition. “It is settled law that criminal and penal laws must be construed to the advantage of the accused and the benefit of doubt, if any, must be given to the accused.”

However, the prosecutor general told the bench that Afridi had handed out illegal mining contracts, adding that evidences against him were being collected.

After hearing all the arguments, the apex court dismissed the bail plea of the accused and allowed the commission to continue its proceedings.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2015.