ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The Ministry of Education claimed on Friday that the newly appointed Education Minister, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, had been wrongly implicated in a Wani case, which was duly settled in a court of law in 2006.

A statement issued by the ministry said that after hearing the parties concerned the Supreme Court had referred the case to the relevant court which examined witnesses and after completing necessary legal procedures acquitted all of nearly 500 accused, including Mr Bijarani, of being involved in the inhuman custom of Wani.

Civil society organisations and human rights activists have criticised the government for appointing Mr Bijarani as Edu-cation Minister and Mir Israrullah Zehri as Minister for Postal Services.

The Education Ministry’s statement, issued in response to the criticism, praised what it called ‘valuable services’ rendered to the nation by Mr Bijarani.