PHC orders unfreezing bank accounts of BRT contractors

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday ordered unfreezing bank accounts and other assets of the contractors of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali accepted the petitions against the freezing of the bank accounts and other assets of the BRT contractors.Shumail Ahmad Batt Advocate, Barrister Qasim Wadud and Babar Yousafzai appeared for the petitioners.

Shumail Ahmad Batt argued that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been investigating the BRT project since 2018. He said the director general of NAB ordered freezing of assets and bank accounts of Maqbool Calsons and associates, adding that this move was later endorsed by the NAB court. He said that his act on part of the NAB affected all the business affairs of the petitioners as they were working on projects in various parts of the country. He said that NAB could not take this action in the absence of evidence on record until and unless the Bureau proved its allegations against the petitioners. The other lawyers representing the petitioners said that NAB took the action without fulfilling the legal requirements. Deputy prosecutor general NAB Azeem Dad and special prosecutor Muhammad Ali questioned the maintainability of the writ petition and said NAB was holding investigations into the BRT affairs. They said that several other accused, including former chief minister Pervez Khattak, were also involved in the BRT project.