PESHAWAR, Oct 7: Self-exiled MQM chief Altaf Hussain is the only top political figure to benefit from the National Reconciliation Ordinance in the NWFP where he faces a criminal case.

No other person would benefit much from the ordinance since all pending National Accountability Bureau cases were registered after October 12, 1999. Under the ordinance only cases initiated before that date will be withdrawn.

According to the ordinance, proceedings under investigation or pending in any court initiated by or on a reference by the NAB or requests for mutual assistance initiated by the federal government before Oct 12, 1999, against holders of public office stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect.

Legal circles said the MQM chief was declared a proclaimed offender by a local court in an arms smuggling case registered in 1995 when Aftab Ahmad Sherpao was the NWFP chief minister.

At that time, the federal government had launched a crackdown on the MQM in Sindh under the supervision of the then interior minister Naseerullah Khan Babur.

Later, additional district and sessions judge Sardar Mohammed Irshad issued arrest warrants for him and six other accused on Dec 18, 2002, for not appearing before the court.

The ordinance provides that the federal or provincial government may, before the judgment is pronounced by a trial court, withdraw from prosecution a case against any person, including an absconding accused found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimisation in any case initiated between Jan 1, 1986, to Oct 12, 1999.

Under the law, the federal and provincial governments have to constitute a review board to scrutinise the entire record of such cases and give recommendations. The provincial review board shall be headed by a retired judge of the high court with the advocate-general or prosecutor-general and the provincial law secretary as members.

In the said case, the court had acquitted one Gulistan Khan since the prosecution could not prove charges against him.

The case was registered on May 29, 1995, when police seized arms and ammunition from a house here. The government at that time claimed that the accused, Mohammed Arif Qureshi, Farrukh Rasheed and Mukhtiar Ahmad were smuggling arms to Karachi for terrorism. The recovered arms included four Kalashnikovs, one rocket launcher, 100 rockets, 100 hand-grenades and 800 cartridges.

MQM senator Zahid Akhter was later arrested in Karachi and handed over to the authorities in the same case. Two of the arrested accused confessed to the crime, stating that they had instructions from their leaders, including Altaf Hussain, to smuggle arms to Karachi for use against rival groups.

It may be mentioned that after Senator Zahid announced his support for the then PPP government, all charges against him were withdrawn. In the same case, the investigation agency charged another MQM leader, Syed Asghar Kazmi, an arms dealer of Dara Adamkhel, Haji Ameer, Gulistan Khan, and Sardar.