Weapons procurement scam: PHC CJ excuses himself from Malik Naveed’s bail hearing

Bench reiterates order to officials to submit missing persons task force report on March 18.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk refrained from hearing the bail application of former IGP Malik Naveed on Wednesday in the weapons purchase scam.

While hearing the petition for Naveed’s bail, Justice Mulk said he could not continue hearing the case as he was part of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) when the investigation into the case was initiated.

The division bench of the chief justice and Justice Ikramullah Khan was then informed by Naveed’s counsel Zahoorul Haq that he wanted to get bail for his client on legal and medical grounds so the case should be transferred to another bench as soon as possible as the former IGP is hospitalised for heart trouble.

The division bench then referred the case to another bench and ordered a hearing on March 12.

Naveed was arrested on November 20 and spent 56 days in NAB’s custody after which he was sent to prison on a judicial remand. He has been accused of getting kickbacks in procuring weapons and other equipment worth Rs7 billion for the police during 2008 to 2010.

Missing persons case

In a separate case, the same bench issued notices to the ministries of defence and interior, secretary home and tribal affairs and K-P IGP to submit their respective replies over 107 petitions of enforced disappearances. The federal government was ordered to submit a report of the federal task force on missing persons by March 18 to ascertain whereabouts of each missing person.

The bench was informed by lawyers that relatives of their clients were picked up by security agencies from across K-P and the tribal areas, and their whereabouts are not known. They further said the missing persons were neither produced before the court nor were their relatives informed of the location they are being held at.

Deputy attorney generals Manzoor Khalil and Farooq Shah and additional advocate general Mian Arshad Jan said the federal government has constituted a task force and a comprehensive report would be produced before the court by March 18 so the cases should be heard together.

The court, after hearing the arguments, adjourned the case till March 18 with the direction to present the report at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2014.