From pillar to post: PHC restrains EC from arresting collector

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) restrained the Ehtesab Commission from arresting a land acquisition collector on Thursday and also sought a reply from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the case.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel heard a petition filed by Bakhtiar Khan, a land acquisition collector. Bakhtiar’s lawyer Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah Qureshi argued NAB had initiated an enquiry against the petitioner in 2007 after he was accused of amassing illegal assets. However, NAB dropped the enquiry over a lack of evidence against the petitioner. The accountability court dismissed NAB’s plea to drop the investigation.

Qureshi said the court ordered NAB to re-investigate but the bureau, after four months of investigation, closed the file again due to a lack of adequate evidence against his client. NAB told the accountability court through an application, which was then accepted. The Ehtesab Commission, Qureshi said, issued a notice to the petitioner for the same case. Qureshi said even though the petitioner has shared all his assets, he fears arrest if he appears for interrogation before the Commission’s investigation team.

The bench after hearing the arguments restrained Ehtesab Commission from arresting the petitioner and directed him to cooperate with the investigation team. The bench also decided to involve NAB and sought reply from it regarding the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2016.