LAHORE, June 6: An appellate bench of the Lahore High Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of an appeal of former MPA Rauf Khalid against conviction by an accountability court.

Justices Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Mian Saqib Nisar adjourned for June 11 the hearing when they were informed that appellant’s counsel Ramazan Chaudhry was busy in other case.

Former MPA Khalid Rauf submitted in his appeal that he was arrested by NAB on Oct 8, 2000, in an illegal land allotment case. An accountability court of Lahore awarded him three years’ imprisonment with Rs0.7 million fine.

Pleading not guilty, he sought his release.

POLICE SCHOOL: Prosecution in the Elite Police School reference disowned on Thursday the statements of inquiry official Burki SHO Abbas Shah, alleging that he had become a party to the accused.

The reference against the officials of AG office and Elite Police school for withdrawing Rs400 million by preparing fake documents for the purchase of arms, is passing through various snags.

The alleged involvement of the NAB inquiry official with the accused is the latest bottleneck in the on-going trial.

School commandant Col Tariq Ehtesham (retired) whose signatures were forged by the accused, has also been in judicial custody, though NAB couldn’t dig out anything to prove his involvement in the fraud.

NAB authorities have also reportedly offered him to become approver in the case. But he turned down the proposal.

The court fixed June 10 for the next hearing.—APP