PESHAWAR, April 12: Former NWFP chief minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao deposed before an accountability court on Thursday that he had not committed any illegality in the appointments of untrained teachers in the education department.

Sherpao, who is facing trial for illegally appointing teachers in the education department when he was the chief minister of the Frontier province, stated that his cabinet had approved a policy of appointing untrained teachers in posts for which trained teachers had not been available.

After recording his statement, the court, presided over by Attaullah Khan, adjourned the proceedings till April 16.

Sherpao claimed that he had always tried to safeguard the interests of his province and its people and had never indulged in any illegal practice. He said no such step that had resulted in usurping the right of an individual had been taken during his tenure.

He stated that after the policy had been adopted by the provincial cabinet, appointments had been made in different areas. He said the district education officer concerned and not he had been the appointing authority.

Being the chief minister, he claimed, he had never put forward any illegal recommendations. However, he added, he had used the word “may” and not “shall” while putting forward any recommendations, which meant that the officials concerned should look into the legal technicalities of the issue. In the instant case, former provincial minister Habibur Rehman Tan-oli was the prime accused.