Last-minute respite: Ex-PTDC chief granted pre-arrest bail

IHC issues notice to NAB, which was about to arrest Khetran.

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to former chief of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), after the country’s anti-corruption watchdog decided to arrest him for financial mismanagement in the authority during his tenure.

A two-member bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui  granted interim pre-arrest bail to former PTDC managing director (MD) Shah Jehan Khetran till May 21 against surety bonds of Rs0.5 million.

The court issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The petitioner’s counsel Farook H Naek, filed an application requesting the court to grant his client pre-arrest bail. Khetran is accused of embezzlement at PTDC when he was MD of the country’s national tourism body.

The counsel informed the court that NAB had initiated a fabricated case against his client based on mala fide intentions.

He maintained that NAB had asked the government to put Khetran’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL).

On December 1, 2013, the government removed Khetran from the post and NAB initiated an investigation into irregularities which surfaced under his watch.

According to a NAB official, who requested his name be withheld, the suspect was involved in financial mismanagement, illegal recruitments and illegal leasing of PTDC properties. Currently, investigation is under way.

NAB has collected sufficient evidence against Khetran and it is trying to arrest him so formal proceedings can be initiated, he added. The official said NAB also requested the ministry of interior to put his name on the ECL, so he could not escape from the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2014.