Court acquits ex-C&W XEN, others in corruption case

PESHAWAR: The Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday acquitted former executive engineer of the Communication and Works Department Shaukatullah Shah and four other accused in a case related to alleged embezzlement and irregularities in a road construction project in Orakzai district.

The court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish the case against the former officials.The case was heard by Judge Asif Rasheed of the Anti-Corruption Court while lawyer Abdur Rauf Roheela appeared for the defendants.

The court was informed that Shaukatullah Shah was a retired XEN of the C&W Department in Hangu, while the other two accused Ibadullah and Raj Muhammad, were also retired officers, and Malik Feroz was a government contractor. They were accused of embezzlement, fraud, and various corruption-related charges.

The court was told that the accused were allegedly involved in irregularities and corruption in an 8-kilometer-long road construction project from Samana Hotel to Ghazgarh in Orakzai, which reportedly caused a loss of over Rs13.6 million to the national treasury.

Based on an inspection report by technical experts, an FIR was registered against the officials at the Anti-Corruption Police Station in Hangu under sections 409, 420, and 468 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), along with the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.During the inquiry, the Anti-Corruption Officer collected documents and other evidence from the C&W Department, Hangu, and submitted a final report.