PESHAWAR, Sept 9: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday granted bail to eight officers of the Communication and Works Department arrested in connection with misappropriation in the World Bank-funded primary education project.

The bench, comprising Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Qaim Jan Khan, directed that the accused-petitioners should be released after furnishing two sureties amounting to Rs5 million each.

The accused-petitioners were identified as former XEN Abdul Hafeez Savul and SDOs Mohammad Ijaz, Zahir Shah, Mohammad Israr, Najmul Islam, Hamid Rauf, Jane Alam and Sheharyar.

The National Accountability Bureau had charged the accused of inflicting a loss of Rs257.182 million to the exchequer by executing bogus and fictitious projects.

The lawyer, appearing for petitioners argued that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had directed the accountability court to decide the reference within two months. However, he added that the court had yet to decide the case despite the passage of two months.