PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to withdraw its appeal from the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court’s orders for the Federal Investigation Agency to probe the alleged irregularities in the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project, said caretaker information minister Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel on Thursday.

The probe was ordered by the high court in 2019. However, the Supreme Court stayed it in 2021 after the provincial government filed an appeal against the PHC orders.

“Our government has decided to withdraw the appeal filed by the last PTI government to stop the FIA probe into the BRT project. The advocate general will approach the apex court for it,” Kakakhel told Dawn.

He said the high court had shared around 35 points for probing the mass transit.

Centre released Rs2bn hydel profit dues, minister says after cabinet meeting

Earlier, the minister told a presser after the cabinet’s meeting here that the federal government had released Rs2 billion worth of due net hydel profit to the province.

He said he hoped that the centre would make more such payments keeping in view the province’s poor financial conditions.

A statement issued by Mr Kakakhel’s office read that the provincial cabinet approved Rs395.507 million in two installments for the repair and maintenance of Peshawar’s Mall and Fort Road, and the use of BRT land.

According to it, the provincial government paid Rs392 million to the armed forces for carrying out rescue activities during last year’s floods in Dera Ismail Khan at its request.

The cabinet approved the dissolution of the board of governors of Swat Water and Sanitation Services Company Swat and de-notification of six members of the Peshawar WSSC BoG and one member of the Dera Ismail Khan WSSC BoG.

The cabinet approved the appointment of senior PHC judge, Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, as the administrative judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court and empowered the caretaker chief minister to appoint the members of the KP Right to Public Service Commission.

It also approved the release of Rs932 million grant-in-aid for the management of outsourced hospitals in tribal districts to remove hurdles to the provision of medical assistance to visitors due to the shortage of funds.

The cabinet approved a four-tier (service structure) promotion formula for the librarians of primary and secondary education departments in line with the orders of the Peshawar High Court.

According to the statement, the caretaker cabinet also approved the draft KP Probation and Parole Rules, 2022, and its proposed notification, re-notification of the chairperson and members of the KP Charitable Commission and Appellate Committee, and the release of Rs6 million grant-in-aid for the KP Blood Transfusion Authority in the current financial year.

Besides members of the cabinet, the meeting was also attended by provincial chief secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, additional chief secretary Zubair Azhar Qureshi, senior member of the board of revenue Ikramullah and administrative secretaries of the relevant departments.

Meanwhile, Mr Kakakhel said a total of 3,152 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers were arrested in the province over alleged involvement in the May 9-10 riots and cases were registered against 1,203 of them under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

He also said that the caretaker cabinet approved the transfer of several under-trials from various prisons in Punjab to KP’s.

The minister said that the caretaker cabinet also approved Rs4.5 million worth of compensation for the 12 people, who suffered injuries in the Kocha Risaldar bomb blast.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2023