PESHAWAR, Aug 1: A former provincial minister, Habibur Rehman Tanoli, was found guilty of corruption by a local accountability court on Thursday and sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment with a Rs50 million fine.

The presiding officer, Syed Yahya Zahid Gillani, also ordered forfeiture of some of the property of the accused, including bank accounts to the tune of Rs14 million. He directed that if the convict failed to deposit the fine within one month, it would be set off against the forfeited property.

The court ruled that the convict stood disqualified for 10 years from holding any public office under section 15 of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999.

Co-accused Faisal, son of the convict, was acquitted.

The accused faced trial for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Mr Tanoli had earlier faced trial in three cases about illegal appointments in the education department and the local government department and a land acquisition case. He was acquitted in all those references.