PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission to produce details of all the upcoming references against MPA and former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi in the relevant Ehtesab court and stopped that court from proceeding in the pending corruption case against him.

Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan directed the Ehtesab court to conduct the ‘single trial’ of Ziaullah, who was arrested last year on multiple charges, in accordance with the provisions of the KP Ehtesab Commission Act once all the references were filed against him.

The bench issued the directives while disposing of a petition filed by Ziaullah against the preparation of more cases against him at a time when he is facing trial in one reference.

Mr. Ziaullah was arrested by the Ehtesab Commission in July 9 last year when he was serving as the provincial minister for mines and mineral development.

He was charged with misuse of authority and corrupt practices.

He was a PTI leader but his membership was suspended by the party after he accused Chief Minister Pervez Khattak of ‘engineering’ his arrest.

Shumail Ahmad Butt, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client was initially charged with carrying out illegal postings and transfers, and facilitating illegal mining in the province.

He added that the petitioner was later booked in two other cases, one of facilitating illegal extension in lease of chromite mines in Charsadda and the other of facilitating illegal mining of phosphate in Abbottabad.

The lawyer said on the initial grounds of arrests given to the petitioner, 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 asked how the commission later made separate cases pertaining to mines in Charsadda and Abbottabad.

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

He said when the offences of the same kind were mentioned by the commission, the petitioner 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 could be charged with and tried at one trial for any number of such offences.

He added that while the petitioner had been facing trial in the first reference the commission had finalised two other references pertaining to alleged illegal appointments and illegal mining in Hazara.

The lawyer said a fourth reference pertaining to chromite mines in Charsadda was also in the pipelines.

He said the entire exercise showed the mala fide on part of the commission and it wanted to keep the petitioner engaged in multiple trials.

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

He said the references were of different nature compared to the earlier reference filed against the petitioner.

Zahid Aman said if the petitioner was aggrieved of filing of multiple references he could agitate this issue before the Ehtesab court.

He said the petition was not maintainable and might be dismissed.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2016