PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday stopped the National Accountability Bureau from probing the charge of the misuse of office against chief engineer of communication and works department, Zahid Arif, engineer Sohail Bin Qayyum, and former chief secretary Sahibzada Riaz Noor.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaiser also ordered the quashing of the issuance of call-up notices to the suspects, who moved the court against the NAB moves.

The bench had reserved the verdict few days ago after the completion of arguments by the relevant lawyers.

Petitioner Zahid Arif was arrested by the NAB on the charge of possessing illegal assets and was freed in 2000 after he had entered into plea bargain with the bureau and paid Rs17 million to it.

At that time, he was an assistant director in the communication and works department.

Call-up notices issued to three suspects over ‘misuse of office’ also quashed

The NAB executive board had authorised an inquiry in 2013 regarding the re-instatement of Zahid Arif and about the non-filing of an appeal by the provincial government in the Supreme Court to challenge a decision of the services tribunal which had ordered his re-instatement to service.

Arshad Ali, Barrister Mudassir Amir and Aamir Jawed, lawyers for the petitioners, said initially, the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, didn’t have any provision suggesting that a suspect would cease to hold a public office after he entered into plea bargain with the NAB.

They said in 2001, an amendment was made to Section 15 of the NAB law stating soon after entering into plea bargain, the accused would cease to hold public offices.

The lawyers said there was no provision of disqualification at that time but even then, Zahid Arif was dismissed from service and that the services tribunal had ordered his re-instatement afterwards.

They said petitioner Sohail Bin Qayyum was appointed an inquiry officer to look into corruption allegations against Zahid Arif, but the inquiry didn’t find anything.

The lawyers said the NAB had ordered inquiry and investigation against the petitioners and also issued call-up notices to them.

They said appeal against the judgment of the services tribunal was not filed as the law department and advocate general office had suggested that the case was not fit for appeal.

The lawyers requested the bench to quash the start of inquiry against their clients and declare the issuance of call-up notices to them illegal.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2016