PESHAWAR, May 19: An accountability court on Saturday adjourned the hearing of a corruption reference filed against Peshawar District Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali till June 2. The court, presided over by judge Subhan Sher, put off the hearing after the defence counsel requested for an adjournment on the grounds that Mr Ali’s son had been seriously ill and he had to visit Karachi for his treatment.

The court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing till June 2.

The court had fixed May 19 for recording the statement of the accused.

Mr Haji Ghulam Ali, a prominent leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F), and 12 of his associates, including his father and three brothers, have been indicted in the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The NAB charged Mr Ali, councillor of the erstwhile Peshawar Municipal Corporation, under sections 9 and 10 of the NAB Ordinance 1999, with possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income totalling Rs305 million.

He was arrested on April 13, 2001 and was later released on bail by the Supreme Court.