Freeze on BRT contractors’ accounts stays

PESHAWAR:

In a major breakthrough in the investigation into the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scandal by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the local accountability court endorsed the freezing of the bank accounts and other assets of the contractors of the project.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Younis confirmed the orders of the NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) director general for freezing 75 bank accounts sealing two residential plots of the contractors, allegedly involved in the scandal.

During a hearing of the case in Peshawar, NAB Additional Prosecutor General Mohammad Ali and Prosecutor Manik Shah informed the court that the freeze orders were issued to complete the ongoing investigation into the matter.

The lawyers for the contractors argued that a contractor had gone into the international arbitration, while the NAB director general had no legal authority to freeze accounts. He pointed out that no action had been taken against a third contractor of the project.

The NAB lawyers argued that the foreign contractor was an unnamed entity, and that the director general had the powers to freeze bank accounts. Later, the court upheld NAB's order, and directed the lawyers of the contractors to file an appeal in the court if they wanted to challenge the decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2024.