PESHAWAR, Aug 2: An accountability court on Saturday accepted two applications filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against former chairman of the Sarhad Development Authority (SDA) Ahmad Nawaz Shinwari.

The court, presided over by Saleem Khan, fixed August 18 for the next hearing.

The defendant had objected to filing of the two applications at a belated stage when the arguments had been completed. The defendant had contended that the applications could not be accepted.

The NAB had charged Mr Shinwari with possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income - a crime under the NAB Ordinance 1999.

In one of the applications, the prosecution claimed that the investigation officer had inadvertently not placed certain documents on file.

In the second application the prosecution stated that certain ‘benamidars’ in the case should be summoned by the court for recording their statements.

The prosecution claimed that certain properties of Mr Shinwari had been bought in the names of other persons and it was vital that those ‘benamidars’ be produced before the court.

Barrister Zahoorul Haq appeared for the defence and argued that he had pointed out lacunas in the prosecution’s case on July 12, following which the prosecution had filed the two applications on July 16.  

He argued that after completion of arguments these applications could not be entertained.

The defence had pointed out in the final arguments that the ‘benamidars’ were neither cited witnesses nor examined during the trial.