Reined in: PHC restrains NAB in two cases

Bureau directed not to harass litigants.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and its Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa director. The bureau was restrained from arresting the Mardan Development Authority (MDA) legal superintendent.

A petition filed by MDA Legal Superintendent Imtiaz Ahmad, through his lawyer Amjad Ali, was heard by Justice Roohul Amin on Wednesday. While arguing his case, Ali informed the bench that a legal battle started at the PHC between MDA and a man identified as Adam Khan over a one-kanal plot. He argued PHC decided the case in favour of Adam and ordered MDA to hand over the plot.

However, Ahmad challenged PHC’s judgment at the Supreme Court, he added.

“To make Ahmad withdraw his case from the SC, Adam’s son, Major Naeem, who was a colleague of NAB K-P Director Umair Aslam, requested the latter for help,” he argued.

He said Aslam invited Ahmad to his office to pressurise him into withdrawing the case.

“The director started harassing him after he refused. He accused Ahmad of misappropriation and initiated an enquiry against him,” Ali told the bench.

The lawyer said his client was issued repeated notices to appear for interrogation and insisted the man was innocent of the charges. After hearing the argument, Justice Amin accepted his plea and restrained NAB from arresting Ahmad. It also issued notices to the NAB chairman and its K-P director to appear on the next date of hearing.

In a separate petition, Justice Amin restrained NAB from arresting Peshawar district food controller and sought a reply from the bureau.

Peshawar Food Controller Muhammad Iqbal also filed his petition through the same lawyer. Ali said NAB was investigating a misappropriation case against his client and issued repeated notices. He argued that Iqbal was cooperating with NAB and appeared several times before the investigation team.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2016.