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PESHAWAR: An accountability court here on Saturday acquitted former provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi of the around two-decade old charge of corruption in the Peshawar Ring Road project.
Judge Ishtiaq Ahmad accepted an application filed by the accused under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the court to acquit an accused before the conclusion of trial if there is no possibility of his or her conviction on basis of available evidence.
The accused, Habiullah Kundi, who remained the provincial housing and physical planning minister from 1994 to 1996, was earlier declared a proclaimed offender as he had absconded in the case in early 2000 when the trial was conducted against several other accused, including former chief minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao.
All other accused were acquitted in the case, while their acquittal was later upheld by the high court.
The NAB had alleged that the accused had inflicted a loss of Rs310 million to the exchequer by acquiring land at exorbitant rate.
Qazi Mohammad Anwar, lawyer for the accused, said the court had acquitted five accused, including Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, former senator Gul Sher, tehsildar Mosam Khan, and patwaris Nisar and Dilawar on June 21, 2003.
He added that the high court had dismissed a NAB appeal against the acquittal on Dec 21, 2004.
The lawyer said there was no evidence against his client and that when all other accused had been acquitted, how his client could be convicted.
The corruption case against Mr Kundi, who is currently a PTI leader, has seen several twists and turns.
Initially, when the accountability court was conducting trial against the Mr Sherpao and some other accused persons, Mr Kundi and four other accused persons had been absconding.
An accountability court had sentenced him to three years imprisonment in 2001 for absconding under Section 31-A of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999. He was also declared a proclaimed offender.
In May 2016, a high court bench had accepted plea of Mr Kundi and set aside his conviction in absentia.
Following the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance 2007, the case ended. However, it was revived when the Supreme Court declared the NRO unconstitutional in 2009.
An accountability court later accepted an application of Mr Kundi under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure and acquitted him.
However, an appeal filed by the NAB was accepted by the high court on technical grounds and the case was sent back to trial court for fresh trial.
Mr Kundi had contested the July 25 election on the PTI ticket in the National Assembly constituency NA-37 Tank but lost it to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidate.
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2018
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