Staying in: PHC denies bail to former excise and taxation secretary

Accepts application of Ayub Medical Complex ex-principal

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court had a busy day granting and rejecting bail applications on Wednesday. While the court denied bail to former excise and taxation secretary Sajjid Jadoon, bail was granted to the former principal of Ayub Medical College Muhammad Ayub.

Jadoon was accused of corruption in contracts of weapons and equipment, while Ayub was charged for his involvement in helping the “illegal” National Institute for Medical Sciences register with the Higher Education Regulatory Authority (HERA).

Illegal medical college

The court granted interim bail to the former principal who was currently working as a medical expert in the HERA. He was arrested for the illegal registration of a college which lacked the necessary faculty and robbed parents of Rs550million of their hard-earned money by luring students.

Muhammad Farooq Malik, counsel for Muhammad Ayub, told the division bench of justices Roohul Amin Khan and Syed Afsar Shah that his client was arrested for the illegal registration of a medical college and the admission of students.

“A bench, headed by the chief justice, granted bail to Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Vice Chancellor Dr Ihsan Ali and Hazara University former VC Syed Sakhawat Shah on Tuesday in the same case,” he pointed out. “NAB itself did not request the physical custody of my client who was sent to prison on the next day of his arrest,” Farooq said.

He added NAB said that investigation was completed and the reference of corruption would be filed in an accountability court over the next few days. Malik contended that keeping the former principal behind bars was unjustifiable.

The court then granted interim bail to Ayub on the condition of furnishing bonds worth Rs1 million with two surety bonds. The court also issued a notice to the NAB chairman.

Earlier, a NAB statement said Ayub, with mala fide intentions, recommended NIMS be registered with HERA. The institute lacked the necessary faculty to be affiliated with the authority.

The statement said the suspect misused his authority and cheated the public by luring students to an illegal and unregistered medical institution, thus fleecing parents of more than Rs550 million.

Denied

The PHC bench of justices Nisar Hussain Khan and Irshad Qaiser denied the bail to former excise and taxation secretary Sajjid Jadoon. The defendant’s counsel said his client was arrested on charges of corruption related to the contracts of weapons and equipment for his department.

The counsel said the suspect was not only a member of the reform committee constituted to bring amendments to the K-P Ehtesab Commission act, but also president of the provincial Civil Services Officers’ Association.

The bench denied Jadoon’s bail after hearing the arguments. However, his bail application will be heard again, along with similar petitions after Eidul Azha.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.