QUETTA, Jan 17: A division bench of Balochistan High Court on Tuesday allowed appeals of three ex-officials of the provincial education department against their conviction by an accountability court of Quetta in separate corruption cases and set aside the sentenced awarded to them.

The same bench comprised Justice Akhtar Zaman Malghani and Justice Nadir Khan.

The appellants, former directors education Raja Nasir Ahmed, Mirza Noor Ahmed and Muhammad Hashim Kakar, were convicted on July 8 2005.

The trial court, in yet a separate corruption case, had convicted former minister of education Sardar Nasir Ali Hazara in and sentenced him to suffer 7 years RI and to pay a fine of Rs15.7 million.

The appellate bench, however, reduced the quantum of imprisonment to four year of the fine to Rs10m.—Correspondent