The court issued notices to four accused including former IGP Malik Naveed, former chief minister Amir Haider Hoti’s brother Ghazan Hoti, Ghazan’s relative Raza Ali Khan. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
An accountability court on Monday reserved its judgment till June 2 on National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) application requesting the court to summon six accused in the multi-billion rupees weapons procurement case.
On March 22, the court issued notices to four accused including former IGP Malik Naveed, former chief minister Amir Haider Hoti’s brother Ghazan Hoti, Ghazan’s relative Raza Ali Khan and budget officer Javed Khan, but declined to summon six other suspects.
The six include then additional IGP and present Frontier Constabulary Commandant Abdul Majeed Khan, former additional IGP Operations Abdul Latif Khan, DIG Central Police Office (CPO) Sajid Ali Khan, former DIG headquarters Muhammad Suleman Khan, then AIG establishment CPO Kashif Alam and former DIG telecommunication Sadiq Kamal Orakzai. The status of these accused is neither highlighted nor defined as NAB’s reference in the case is mum in this regard.
The bureau produced Malik Naveed, Ghazan Hoti and Raza in court on Monday whereas Javed Khan, who is on bail, also appeared before the court. Awami National Party leaders, including the party’s parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly Sardar Hussain Babak, Arbab Tahir and Syed Masoom Shah were present in the court.
NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has filed an application in the accountability court requesting to summon the six officials, stating they had committed criminal negligence while approving the contract for procuring weapons and other equipment for the police in 2008-10 and observing the entire procurement process.
The court was informed on Monday that a supplementary reference has been filed against Ghazan which also points to the role of these six individuals. The previous order of the court was interlocutory and now the court can review it, it was informed further.
Several related judgments of other courts were also presented and the court was told it has the complete authority to review its previous order.
Judge Muhammad Ibrahim Khan then reserved the judgment on NAB’s application requesting to summon the six suspects till June 2. A detailed judgment would be delivered keeping in view the legal questions that came to the front during the proceedings, the court observed.
On May 6, Judge Zarqaish Sani sent Ghazan to Central Prison Peshawar after his ten-day physical remand expired. The court was informed that the email and mobile phone of the accused were sent to NAB’s cybercrime department and a report regarding it would be received in a few days.
Ghazan was arrested by NAB officials after the Peshawar High Court dismissed the extension of his pre-arrest bail on April 15 in the Rs2.03 billion embezzlement case. Ghazan is charged with taking Rs195 million in kickbacks from contractor Arshad Majeed, but denies the charges, saying he had no role in the procurement process for the provincial police.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2014.
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Everyone knows that Majeed Marwat,and the other five accomplices currently serving and not serving have caused losses to the national exchequer. Severe punishment should be met across all boards rather than being selective for criminal negligence and monetary benefits.