PESHAWAR, March 7: An accountability court on Wednesday started proceedings for declaring proclaimed offender a former president of the Habib Bank Limited, Mohammad Younas Dalia.

The court, presided over by Khalid Badshah, issued a proclamation under section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code, asking Mr Dalia, required in an accountability case, to appear before the court within one month.

The court ordered that under the law the proclamation should be affixed outside the court and the residence of Mr Dalia in Defence Housing Society in Karachi.

The proclamation was issued as the accused did not turn up before the court despite repeated notices. During last hearing, his arrest warrant was issued by the court, but police could not execute it, claiming that he was absconding.

In case the accused failed to turn up within the specified time, he would be declared a proclaimed offender.The National Accountability Bureau claimed that the accused was required in a case pertaining to transfer of money from the Peshawar zonal office to Karachi. The NAB filed a complaint with the accountability court stating that the accused was involved in misappropriation of money transferred from some accounts of Peshawar to Karachi.

CONVICTED: Meanwhile, the accountability court on Wednesday sentenced a former employee of the Kohat passport office to one year rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 10,000 for receiving Rs1500 as bribe from a person for preparing his passport.

Israr Khan, a resident of Nusratkhel, was a senior clerk at the passport office. The case against him was initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency and after merger of some of its units in the NAB, it was processed by the bureau.

The prosecution said that in July 2005 the accused had asked Gulab Jamal to pay him Rs1500 for preparing his passport. Mr Jamal informed a magistrate who was visiting the office the same day. The magistrate caught the accused red-handed while receiving the money from Mr Jamal.

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