PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday stopped the National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from arresting four former senior officials of the University of Peshawar, including vice-chancellor, in a case of alleged irregularities in the purchase of land for the university employees’ housing scheme.

A bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Duad Khan suspended the NAB call-up notices issued to former VC Dr Azmat Hayat, former registrar Sheerinzada Khattak, former treasurer Sanaullah Khan and former chairperson of the Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Professor Farrukh Hussain – and issued a notice to the NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking it to explain position on the matter.

It issued the order on a petition of the former officials against the issuance of call-up notices to them by the NAB lately.

Court asks NAB to explain reason for issuing call-up notices to four suspects

The petitioner, Azmat Hayat, was the chairman of the board constituted university’s administration for the Peshawar University Employees Welfare Foundation, whereas the treasurer was its secretary and the other two petitioners were its members.

The board had decided to purchase a vast piece of land in 2010 to establish a campus and a housing scheme in Spin Kanre Kalan area of Nowshera.

The NAB suspected the said land was available at much cheaper rates and when the university decided to purchase the said land they allegedly included a middleman. It is suspected that the said middleman first purchased the land on cheaper rates and subsequently sold it out to the university at much higher price.

The provincial higher education department had also conducted an inquiry and recommended action against the culpable persons.

Barrister Yaseen Khan appeared for the petitioners and contended that his clients were issued call-up notices by the NAB in connection with the purchase of land for an employee’s housing scheme.

He said the NAB had started an inquiry in this regard on the basis of the false charge of the land’s purchase at exorbitant rates.

The lawyer said the owner of the said land was even now willing to re-purchase the land at the said land which showed that the land was purchased at much lower price.

He pointed out that earlier the KP Ehtesab Commission had launched an inquiry which was challenged before the high court.

The lawyer however said the NAB was also inquiring into the issue and therefore, the KPEC closed its inquiry.

BAIL GRANTED: The bench granted bail to an executive engineer of Pak-Public Works Department, Asif Khan, who was arrested by the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the charge of embezzling public funds during the construction of different development schemes in Batkhela and Swat.

Sardar Ali Raza, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client was earlier granted bail by the high court in two other identical cases.

He said the NAB instead of conducting different inquiries simultaneously against the petitioner had been coming up with new cases after completion of earlier inquiries.

The lawyer said the instant case a reference had already been filed by the NAB and he was no longer required to the bureau for the purpose of investigation.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016