Weapons scam: PHC dismisses NAB’s petition seeking summons

Accused’s counsels tell court petition was filed by an unauthorised person

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court has dismissed a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) petition which requested the high court to order the accountability court to summon six serving and former senior police officials in the Rs7 billion weapons scam, including the current FC commandant.

The petition was dismissed by Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Ikramullah Khan on Thursday after hearing arguments from NAB deputy prosecutor general and counsels of the respondents.

NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Muhammad Jamil Khan told the court the bureau had filed a corruption reference of Rs2.03 billion in the accountability court on March 21. The reference had named 10 people accused of misappropriation in a procurement deal for weapons and other equipment for the police department in 2008-2010.

On March 22, accountability court Judge Muhammad Ibrahim Khan summoned four accused: former IGP Malik Naveed, former chief minister Amir Haider Hoti’s brother Amir Ghazan, his relative Raza Ali Khan and budget officer Javed Khan. However, it refused to summon six others stating the reference was mum on their status.

“There were some senior officials who facilitated the crime and their role has clearly been defined in the detailed corruption reference filed in the accountability court,” Muhammad Jamil told the court on Thursday. “The six named officials should be summoned by the court,” he added.

Cooperative parties

These are former additional IGP and now Frontier Constabulary (FC) Commandant Abdul Majeed Khan, former additional IGP operations Abdul Latif Khan, Central Police Office DIG Sajid Ali Khan, former headquarters DIG Muhammad Suleman Khan, the then AIG establishment Khashil Alam, former telecommunications DIG Sadiq Kamal Orakzai.

Muhammad Jamil said the six accused are part of the investigation and are being helpful in the case but once a reference is filed, the court is supposed to summon all those named. “How can the court summon some officials and leave out others,” questioned Muhammad Jamil.

However, Abdul Samad Khan, the counsel for FC Commandant Abdul Majeed Khan said the petition was filed in the high court by an unauthorised person—NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa through its deputy prosecutor general and not NAB headquarters in Islamabad.

Barrister Mudassir Amir, who was also representing the accused, said the accountability court should first be allowed to issue its final orders in the case. “Let the accountability court decide, and if anyone is aggrieved after that, they can approach the high court,” said Amir.

Upon hearing arguments from both sides, the court dismissed NAB’s petition. Moreover, the bureau’s request to transfer the ongoing case to another judge in the accountability court was also dismissed.

NAB suspects that Rs2.03 billion was embezzled in the Rs7 billion weapons purchase contract.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2014.