PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed a petitioner to make National Accountability Bureau a party to his petition seeking details of cases registered against two former federal ministers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Wiqar Ahmad fixed Oct 12 for next hearing of a petition filed by provincial organiser of Insaf Lawyers Forum Qazi Mohammad Anwar on behalf of former ministers Senator Azam Swati and Murad Saeed.

The bench directed the petitioner to submit a petition for making NAB a respondent in his petition within three days after which comments would be sought from it.

The petitioner has requested the court to issue directives to the law enforcement agencies for providing details about the cases registered against the two PTI leaders.

Advocate Shah Faisal Uthmankhel appeared for the petitioner and contended that the two leaders had tried their level best to get information regarding any FIR or any order under the preventive detention laws related to them but the respondents including the provincial government and police department refused to provide any information.

He contended that by not providing any information about the reason of conducting raids on the houses and offices of the two leaders, the respondents had been acting in an illegal manner.

Additional advocate general Danyal Asad Chamkani and deputy attorney general Mohammad Altaf appeared for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments, respectively.

Danyal Chamkani stated that there was no case registered against the said two persons by the anti- corruption establishment.

Shah Faisal Uthmankhel stated that so far NAB had not filed its report whether any case was pending with it against the two former ministers.

When the bench inquired from him whether he had made the NAB party in the petition, he replied in negative and contended that the DAG was representing the federal government and he may provide details about the NAB.

However, the bench observed that he should first make the NAB a respondent in the petition.

INTERIM BAIL GRANTED: An anti-terrorism court has granted interim pre-arrest bail to two former lawmakers of PTI in cases registered in different police stations after the May 9 and 10 violent protests in the provincial capital.

Judge Jehanzeb Shinwari fixed Oct 9 for next hearing of the pre-arrest bail pleas of a former MNA Arbab Sher Ali Khan and ex-MPA Fazal Ilahi, and sought the relevant record from the police.

The judge directed that the two petitioners should not be arrested till next date.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023