Peshawar High Court. PHOTO: PPI
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Younis Thaheem heard the bail applications of Zeb and others who were booked in an illegal mining scam. A panel of lawyers representing the applicants – including Barrister Mudasir Amir, Syed Arshad Ali Shah and Amir Javed – asked the court to grant their clients bail.
Earlier this year, NAB had accused Zeb and the rest of the applicants of misusing their authority by illegally allotting 500 acres of phosphate deposits to Rukhsana Javed.
Amir Javed told the court land allotted to Rukhsana contained “unproven phosphate deposits”. According to the counsel, Zeb was invited to chair a meeting by Farhad Ali – who is also a suspect and is on bail. The former minister signed the allotment as per rules specified by his job. Javed said the secretary and director general of the mines and minerals department were aware of this as well.
According to Javed, his client had been kept behind bars for over 90 days while Additional Secretary Asmatullah Gandapur and Farhad Ali had been granted bail. He argued his client has not been interrogated since his detention and asked for his bail. The court reserved its judgment on the matter till October 26.
Questions and answers
NAB Special Prosecutor Umer Farooq told the court 1,500 acres with proven deposits of phosphate was allotted for just Rs14,000 to Rukhsana.
He added, “The land next to the property was also leased to Rukhsana for Rs118 million, so how can 1,500 acres be allotted for such a meagre amount?”
Farooq said before the land was allotted, an inspection team comprising Noroz and Khan Badshah was sent to examine the property.
The team filed a report on the same day stating that the land contained “unproven phosphate deposit”. “How is it possible to prepare a report in one day?” asked Farooq.
He informed the bench a second report was prepared by a four-member inspection team. Its findings revealed the land contained “proven phosphate deposits”.
Seeking replies
The high court stopped the Ehtesab Commission from arresting JUI-F leader and former senator Haji Ghulam Ali. It has asked the commission to submit a reply in this regard. Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Roohul Amin Chamkani heard a petition filed by Ali through his lawyer Qazi Jawad.
The counsel informed the bench Ali was a councillor from 1983 to 1991. NAB arrested him in 2001 and filed a reference against him regarding the accumulation of assets worth Rs300 million.
Ali spent 18 months in detention and was acquitted. by an accountability court. In 2013, PHC upheld the accountability court’s decision. “The case lingered for 12 years,” Jawad said. “NAB started another enquiry into him over the possession of illegal assets.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2015.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ