PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday stopped the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission from proceeding further on any new reference against former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi, who is already facing trial on the charge of facilitating illegal mining.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaiser directed the KPEC director general to file comments about a petition filed by MPA Ziaullah Afridi, who was the minister for mines and mineral development when he was arrested by the commission in July 2015.

The petitioner has challenged the preparation of the two subsequent references against him, while he is still facing trial in the earlier reference.

Mr. Ziaullah, who was also expelled from the PTI after he had levelled allegations against Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, was arrested on July 9.

The KPEC had initially charged him for carrying out illegal postings and transfers and facilitating illegal mining in the province.

Afterwards, he was charged in two other cases accusing him of facilitating illegal extension in lease of a lessee of chromite mines in Charsadda and facilitating illegal mining of phosphate in Abbottabad.

Shumail Ahmad Butt, lawyer for the petitioner, said in the initial grounds of arrests given to his client, it was mentioned that he failed to exercise his authority to prevent loss to the exchequer through illegal mining, and the said charge pertained to the entire province.

He questioned how the commission later made separate cases pertaining to mines in Charsadda and Abbottabad.

The lawyer said the KPEC intended to file more references against his client in the Ehtesab courts.

He said when offences of the same kind were mentioned by the commission, then his client had to be tried in a single reference.

Mr. Butt said under Section 42 of the KPEC Act, 2014, a person accused of more offences than one of the same kind might be charged with and tried at one trial for any number of such offences.

KPEC deputy prosecutor general Zahid Aman said the commission had already filed two more references against the petitioner.

The bench observed that in case references were filed, then no further proceedings should be made on them.

REPLIES SOUGHT: The bench sought replies from the National Accountability Bureau chairman and its director general in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on a petition filed by a former chief minister’s special assistant, Syed Masoom Shah, against the delay on part of an accountability court in giving final approval to his plea bargain in a corruption case.

The plea bargain has already been accepted by the chairman.

The bench fixed Feb 9 for the next hearing asking respondents to file replies within three days.

The petitioner has also requested the court that his plea bargain was already accepted by the chairman and therefore, he could be freed on bail.

Barrister Waqar Ahmad appeared for the petitioner, who was special assistant to former chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti, and said his client was arrested by the NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Aug 11, 2015, on the charge of possessing assets disproportionate to the known sources of his income.

He said his client’s application for plea bargain was accepted by the NAB chairman and sent to an accountability court last month for approval but the court returned the application over certain technical objections.

He said once the chairman had given approval to the plea bargain, the court couldn’t withhold it.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2016