PESHAWAR: A special anti-corruption court has rejected bail pleas of two former officials of Kohat Police Training School detained over the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for payment to a supplier of petroleum products.

Senior special judge Asif Rashid ruled that the two petitioners, including former PTS motor transport officer Zahoor Iqbal and former principal Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar, had failed to make a “compelling case” to secure bail.

“The evidence paints a damning picture and to grant bail in such circumstances would be to turn a blind eye to justice,” the judge observed, adding that the gravity of the alleged offence, coupled with the robust evidence on record, rendered the petitioners’ bail pleas untenable.

The petitioners were named in an FIR registered at the Anti-Corruption Establishmentpolice station inKohat on May 20, 2025, under Section 409 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Petitioners held for ‘misappropriation’ of POL fund

The complainant in the case is Chaudhry Shehzad Ahmad, proprietor of Multazim Filling Station, Kohat, who was represented by lawyers Fawadur Rehman and Ibrar Alam.Senior public prosecutor Fazli Noorani appeared for the state.

He had submitted an application on July 29, 2022, to the PTS director for clearing arrears for POL products supplied to the institution’s vehicles on a monthly basis.

The complainant claimed that while partial payment was made, a substantial sum remained unpaid.

He insisted that repeated requests were to the then principal and MTO for dues clearance and even the release of Rs20 million dues in May or June 2022 was promised to settle current and old dues for the period from 2020-21 to May 2022, butpayments weren’t made.

The complainant later sought for an inquiry into the matter and speedy payment of Rs16.75 million dues to ensure continuation of his filling station’s operations.

The lawyers for the complainant and the senior prosecutor pointed out that a preliminary inquiry was initiated by the assistant inspector general (inquiries) at the internal accountability branch.

They argued that in the said inquiry both the petitioners were held accountable for misappropriation of Rs16.75 million.

The counsel said that the subsequent departmental inquiry by the Bannu RPO and DPO led to the imposition of a minor penalty of “censure” on Mohammad Ibrahim for the dereliction of duty, while Zahoor Iqbal faced the major penalty of “dismissal from service.”

They added that there was also a recommendation of criminal proceedings against Zahoor Iqbal as well as the recovery of the misappropriated amount to be determined by a team of experts.

The lawyers said that an “open” inquiry was conducted by the ACE that led to the registration of an FIR.

The judge observed that the complainant’s statement under Section 164 of CrPC corroborated the allegations accusing both the petitioners of colluding to misappropriate departmental funds amounting to over Rs16 million.

He added that the final report and audit findings further tightened the noose of culpability around the petitioners, providing substantial incriminating material that inextricably links them to the alleged offences.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2025