PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday granted bail to four suspects, including former provincial minister Liaquat Shabab, arrested by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission for corruption, over a lacuna in the law.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mrs Irshad Qaisar issued interim orders of granting bail to the suspects during the hearing into respective petitions against their arrest by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC).

The suspects include provincial information secretary of PPP Liaquat Shabab; chief coordinating officer of Kohat District Council Noor Daraz Khattak, who is also father of PTI MPA Gul Sahab Khattak; additional secretary of finance department Imtiaz Ayub, who is a former director of social welfare directorate, and gardawar Mohammad Daud.

The bench granted bail to the suspects due to a major lacuna in the KPEC Act 2014 as law doesn’t have any provision for sending suspect on judicial remand or applying the Code of Criminal Procedure to it.

The bench directed Liaquat Shabab to submit two surety bonds of Rs2 million.

Similarly, Noor Daraz was ordered to submit two surety bonds of Rs4 million, whereas rest of the two suspects were ordered to furnish two surety bonds each of Rs1 million.

Lawyers for petitioners said in the KPEC Act 2014, a provision was available for remanding a suspect to the custody of the commission by the court but there was no provision for remanding the suspect to judicial custody after physical remand.

They said under Section 38 of the Act, a suspect could be remanded into custody of the commission up to 45 days but not exceeding 15 days at a time.

However, no provision was given for sending the suspect to judicial lock-up or prison after completion of physical remand.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2015

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