Weapons scam: Peshawar High Court extends stay on arrest of senior policemen

Court told officers cannot be summoned by bureau once the case is in trial court.

PESHAWAR: A divisional bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) extended a stay order which restrained the National Accountability Bureau 

from arresting five senior police officers.

The officials have been implicated in a scam worth Rs2.03 billion related to the purchase of weapons for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police.

When the hearing commenced, Abdul Samad Khan, representing the petitioners, told the bench of PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaiser that his clients were again issued notices by NAB to appear. He argued the trial of FC commandant Abdul Majeed Marwat, former K-P additional IGP (operations) Abdul Latif Gandapur, DIG Central Sajid Ali Khan, former DIG Headquarters Peshawar Mohammad Suleman, Former AIG Establishment at CPO Kashif Alam and the then DIG (Telecommunication) Sadiq Kamal was under way in courts.

He informed the bench the statements of the four witnesses had already been recorded during trial. Samad contended some of the individuals were serving as current additional inspector generals and urged the bench to exempt them from appearances as they face serious security threats.

DIG Sajid Ali Khan’s lawyer, Anwarul Haq, argued that in light of a Supreme Court judgment, the NAB chairman could not summon any suspect for appearance once the reference was filed in a trial court.

“The authority to summon the suspect is then transferred to the trial court once the reference is filed,” he argued.

Deputy Prosecutor General Qazi Jamil told the bench NAB filed several requests in the PHC to summon the applicants, but the court, during the previous hearing, directed the bureau to contact the trial court for summoning them in light of the apex court’s judgment.

He argued the trial court dismissed the NAB application and observed their names could not be included in the reference unless the bureau arrested the suspects.

The chief justice enquired from the prosecutor if there was any evidence on record against the suspects.

Jameel replied NAB had evidence which could be produced during an in-camera session. Haq, meanwhile, argued this was a civil case and was yet to see any evidence against his client.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th,  2015.