PESHAWAR: An Ehtesab court here on Monday acquitted former MNA Sardar Mohammad Mushtaq, former Workers Welfare Board secretary Tariq Awan and 13 others of corruption.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission had charged them with causing a huge loss to the exchequer during the acquisition of land for a WWB project.

Judge Abdul Ghafoor Qureshi accepted two acquittal applications filed by Sardar Mushtaq, Tariq Awan and other accused under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the trial court to acquit an accused person before the conclusion of trial when there is no possibility of conviction.

The KPEC had alleged that the accused had inflicted a loss of Rs137 million to the exchequer while acquiring land for the construction of the Labour Complex, Haripur.

The accused also included former district officer revenue Latifur Rehman, former tehsildar Haider Zaman, former patwari Amjad Shehzad and some landowners.

KPEC had charged them with causing loss to kitty in land acquisition

Sardar Mushtaq was arrested by the KPEC on Sept 30, 2016 and was released on bail granted by the Peshawar High Court on Oct 5, 2016.

During the 2008 elections, Sardar Mushtaq was elected MNA on the PML-N ticket from Haripur. He later joined the PPP but returned to the PML-N soon.

The KPEC alleged that its director general had come to know about the alleged embezzlement by the revenue department and WWB officials in connivance with the private landowners whereby a low-priced land was incorrectly shown and converted into superior kind of land and thus, causing a colossal loss to the exchequer.

Shahnawaz Khan was the lawyer for Tariq Awan, whereas advocate Sardar Nasir Aslam Khan appeared for the other 14 accused including Sardar Mohammad Mushtaq.

Mr Shahnawaz said the reference was not maintainable as filing it was not in the jurisdiction of the KPEC.

He said funds for the project in question were provided by the Workers Welfare Fund (WWGF), which was a federal entity, and therefore, the KPEC couldn’t question it being a provincial body.

The lawyer said the funds’ audit was also conducted by the federal government.

Lawyer Sardar Nasir said the National Accountability Bureau had started inquiry against Sardar Mushtaq in 2008 over the sale of land to the WWB allegedly at exorbitant rates but closed it as the charges weren’t proved.

He said his clients had filed a petition with the high court when the NAB was looking into the matter and the court had given a verdict in their favour.

The lawyer said the NAB had later filed a review petition with the high court but that, too, was dismissed.

He said in light of the high court’s decision, the NAB chairman had directed the bureau’s KP director general for closing investigation in the case.

The lawyer said once NAB had investigated the matter and closed the case, the KPEC had no authority to reopen the same.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2018