PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court(PHC) has ordered the National Accoutability Bureau not to harass the petitioner during the hearing of a petition filed against the freezing of assets of a private firm in the Upper Kohistan scandal.
The petition was heard by a two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Fahim Wali. The petitioner’s lawyer Sardar Nasir Aslam Advocate took the stand that NAB has illegally frozen his client’s property even though the investigation process is still ongoing and the assets have not been verified by the Accountability Court within 14 days, while more than 30 days have passed since the matter.
The court inquired how this huge amount of money reached Kohistan. To which the lawyer replied that this money came from the government’s accounts and NAB should find out who released this money. The petitioner’s lawyer further said that his client has no serious charges, while the case also includes accused who are accused of taking billions of rupees.
He pointed out that the Accountant General’s Office personnel are also involved in this case, and the matter is not so simple as it is being portrayed. NAB Special Prosecutor Arbab Kaleemullah told the court that the investigation is still ongoing and the petitioner is being interrogated.
The court ordered that the petitioner be treated according to the law and not to be harassed, the lawyer told the court that the petitioner appeared on the summons notice on July 24 and has now been summoned again on August 4.
At the end of the hearing, the court issued a directive that the petitioner should not be harassed during the investigation process and action should be taken according to the law.
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