PHC reserves verdict in SDGs case

Petitioners contend NAB cannot deal with cases worth less than Rs500m

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has reserved its verdict on a petition filed against a National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) investigation into some development projects that are underway in the merged district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province.

Contractors of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) projects had moved the PHC against NAB’s decision to turn its various inquiries into delay in completion of these projects into an investigation.

When a division bench of the PHC, comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Waqar Ahmed resumed hearing of the petition, the counsels for the petitioners Qazi Jawwad Ahsanullah and Lajabar Khan told the court that after amendments to its law, the top accountability watchdog could not deal with cases involving alleged corruption of less than Rs500 million.

They said NAB started inquiries into some development projects underway in district Mohmand, Khyber and Bajuar.

They said these projects are underway and have not been completed so far and yet NAB has now found it necessary to launch an investigation.

The counsel contended that the project into which NAB first launched inquiries are of varied nature and that three different investigation officers carried out these inquiries separately.

“Now NAB has decided to merge these inquiries into a single investigation,” said one of the counsel, adding that the bureau did not properly hear the petitioners during the inquiry process.

NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Syed Azeem Dad said the SDGs projects being constructed in the merged districts of the K-P were supposed to complete in four to six months.

After hearing arguments of both the parties, the court reserved its decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2023.