PESHAWAR: An official of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission has appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the provincial government’s decision to disband the accountability body.

Saifullah Jarar, additional director investigation at the KPEC, in a letter to the CJP, a copy of which is available with Dawn, noted that the accountability body was set up through an act of assembly to ensure good governance and countering corruption in the province.

The official noted that in its first two years, KPEC had arrested 40 accused and prepared 11 references for trial in the Special Ehtesab Court.

He said that as most of the cases were against politicians who were then in the government, bureaucrats and officials, so the law was amended to avoid the continuity of actions by the accountability body. He said further amendments were made in the law with mala fide intentions, while unjustified regulations were issued to disband the KPEC or make it toothless.

He said despite these hurdles the commission performed well and managed to recover over Rs5 billion. He said all the inquiries pending with the commission, if transferred to other departments, could not be prosecuted as they had been conducted by the JITs.

He appealed the CJP to give protection and social security to those officials who had filed references and carried out investigations against corrupt politicians at personal risk.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2018