RAWALPINDI, Feb 9: The Islamabad High Court granted on Wednesday transitory pre-arrest bail to former federal minister and member of the PPP central executive committee from Balochistan Mir Baz Khan Khaithran in a corruption reference.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan asked Mr Khaithran to approach an accountability court in Quetta for pre-arrest bail.

In his application moved through his lawyer Shah Khawar, the former minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas said the accountability court could not issue a warrant for his arrest because the National Accountability Bureau had not tried to arrest him.

The accountability court had issued the warrant on Feb 2 on a reference sent by the NAB chairman on Jan 31.

The reference alleges that Mr Khaithran did not maintain proper record of expenditures under the People's Works Programme, causing a Rs1.5 million loss to the national exchequer. Mr Khaithran had to supervise the monthly utilisation of Rs100,000 for purchasing sewing machines, bicycles and motorcycles to be distributed among the needy.

Another allegation against him is that a tractor given to him in 1989 for a deserving person was found in his private land.

Mr Khaithran said in his bail petition that criminal proceedings against him were initiated on the orders of former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and the matter was later handed over to the Ehtesab Bureau and then to NAB during the Musharraf government.

The authorities could not prepare a corruption reference till Jan 31, although he attended the inquiries several times. He said NAB had not arrested him under Section 24 of its law.

Advocate Khawar said that once a reference was sent to an accountability court and the accused was not arrested by NAB, the court could only ask him to submit surety bonds for ensuring his presence on every date of hearing. BANK OFFICIAL: Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi of the IHC issued show-cause notices to Zarai Taraqiati Bank President Zaka Ashraf and Executive Vice-President (Human Resources) Mohammad Asghar on a contempt of court petition filed by a vice-president of the ZTBL.

The judge asked the officials to explain why they had defied IHC's orders and not accepted the joining report of petitioner Ghazanfar Ali who had been transferred to Balochistan.

The court will take up the petition on Feb 21.

The petitioner said the court had set aside on Jan 24 the orders for his transfer to Kharan. When he took the orders to the bank's human resource chief, he refused to accept the joining report, Mr Ali said.