Gas theft case: Bailable arrest warrants issued for NAB DG, FIA director

Salaries of officials to be blocked if they fail to appear at the next hearing.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) issued bailable arrest warrants for National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director general and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director after they failed to appear before the court despite being asked to do so several times.

The court was hearing a suo motu notice on Wednesday on an application received by Chief Justice PHC Dost Muhammad Khan requesting action to curb gas theft.

The applicant had informed the court that some influential people had been involved in gas theft from nearby fields, converting it into Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and selling it illegally in different parts of the country.

The court then took notice of the issue in May 2012 and directed the FIA to conduct raids and arrest those involved, while NAB was asked to probe the matter.

The bench had also summoned the officials to appear before the court along with details about people involved by July 4.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice (CJ) PHC Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Khalid Mehmood was informed that both officials could not appear before the court. CJ Khan directed Additional Advocate General Naveed Akhtar to call them by phone.

However, after they failed to appear till 2 pm, the court once again inquired about the absence of the officials to which Akhtar responded that they were caught up in a traffic jam and were on their way to the court.

When the officials did not arrive till 3:15 pm, upon the inquiry of the CJ, Akhtar once again replied that they were yet to arrive. “They should have complied with court orders. The mafia has links at the highest level, the inaction of NAB DG and FIA s director suggests that they are part of the game,” CJ Khan remarked.

The chief justice said that some influential people involved have been investing large sums of money to malign the judiciary. “I should not call out their names but there are a few, who have been continuously investing money to disgrace the judiciary,” he said.

“The FIA director and NAB DG are absent despite several efforts and the court is constrained to issue their bailable arrest warrant,” the court ordered, adding that  if the officials failed to appear before the court on the next hearing of the case, their salaries shall be blocked.