Superdari vehicles: Court orders probe into illegal allotment

The defendant’s counsel said the vehicle confiscated was given to him by Jandad.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has directed the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to probe illegal allotments of Superdari vehicles, assess losses incurred and prepare a charge-sheet against all those who were given the cars.

A large number of vehicles had been parked in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s warehouses under the then NWFP Seizure and Disposal Rules of Motor Vehicles 1999 and were later allotted to bureaucrats and political figures.

During the hearing on April 9, the court had served former director general of Excise and Taxation (E&T) department Arshad Khan a show-cause notice to reply to the allegation that he had demoted an E&T official Jandad Khan after Jandad retrieved 81 vehicles.

On Wednesday, Arshad appeared before the court. His counsel said Jandad had never been demoted and the letter produced by him was not issued by the department.

The defendant’s counsel also said the vehicle confiscated near Attock from the driver of the former E&T minister was given to him by Jandad who even confessed and offered an apology.

He also denied charges against his client. The court then withdrew the show-cause notice against the ex-minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2013.