PESHAWAR, Dec 19: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court here on Thursday accepted accountability appeal of a Patwari of the revenue department, Mosam Khan, and set aside his conviction by an accountability court.

The bench comprising Justice Malik Hamid Saeed and Justice Qaim Jan Khan observed that the appellant had inherited the properties in question from his ancestors and thus the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999, was not applicable to him.

The appellant was convicted by an accountability court on June 26 and was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs1.3 million.

The appellant was arrested by the NAB on Nov 4, 2000, and was charged with the possession of assets worth more than Rs10 million.

He was earlier convicted by the accountability court on Nov 7, 2001, and sentenced to five years imprisonment with a fine of Rs5.3 million.

However, on his appeal the high court had set aside that judgment and remanded the case back to the trial court.

He was again convicted after a re-trial.

Advocate Abdul Sattar Khan appeared for the appellant and argued that the appellant was falsely implicated in the case.

He argued that the properties mentioned by the National Accountability Bureau in the reference against the appellant were his family properties and not earned through corruption or corrupt practices.

Khan argued that the evidence provided by the witnesses clearly proved that the assets belonging to the appellant were not disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The consul added that the trial court had overlooked those points and convicted the appellant.