PESHAWAR, March 7: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday reserved judgment in an accountability case appeal filed by former federal minister Syed Qasim Shah against his conviction.

A two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan and Justice Qaim Jan Khan, reserved the order after completion of arguments by petitioner’s counsel M. Sardar Khan and deputy prosecutor-general of the National Accountability Bureau Mian Fasihul Mulk.

The bench also reserved order in an appeal filed by the NAB requesting to enhance the appellant’s sentence.

Mr Qasim Shah was convicted by an accountability court headed by Attaullah Khan on June 24, 2004, and was sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs36.29 million. The trial court had also disqualified Mr Shah from holding any public office for 10 years.

The former minister had been arrested on Sep 29, 2000, by the NAB on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. A few months before his conviction, he was released on bail. After his conviction, he was re-arrested. However, Mr Shah was again granted bail on medical grounds on July 28, 2004. Currently, he is undergoing medical treatment in the US.

Advocate M. Sardar Khan contended that the NAB had falsely implicated the appellant and the evidence on record did not support the charges levelled against him.

He added that the appellant had provided a correct account of his assets and evidence proved that his properties had not been acquired through unfair means. Mian Fasihul Mulk contended that the charges had been proved against the appellant and the trial court had erred by awarding him a light sentence. He requested the bench to increase the sentence.