ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed the bail plea of former managing director (MD) Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Mir Shahjehan Khetran in the ‘illegal appointment case’.

Khetran and his co-accused Abdul Rasool Zaidi are facing a corruption reference with National Accountability Bureau (NAB) under the charges of illegally appointing 706 people and leasing out PTDC land in Rawalpindi at throwaway price during his term in office.

IHC division bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui in addition to dismissing the pre-arrest bail of Khetran also rejected the request to remove his name from Exit Control List (ECL). IHC bench directed NAB to expedite investigations in this case for early adjudication of the matter.

Counsel for PTDC Raja Saimul Haq Satti argued before the court that the accused from April 2011 till May 2013 made illegal appointments and leased out property worth millions of rupees adjacent to Flashman Hotel Rawalpindi at very low rates. Arshad Tabrez, legal counsel for Khetran, argued before the court that NAB initiated a fabricated case against his client.

NAB’s senior prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar, on the other hand, opposed the bail and informed the court that the reference against Khetran and his associates would be filed in the accountability court soon.

On December 1, 2013 the federal government removed Khetran from the post and NAB initiated an investigation into irregularities.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2015

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