PHC wants no charges against DIG, AIG till Oct 27

Weapons scam

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday restrained the accountability court from framing charges against two more police officers in a high-profile case of alleged embezzlement in procurement of weapons for the Police Department.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Syed Afsar Shah stayed the framing of charges against DIG (Headquarters) Peshawar, Mohammad Suleman and the then AIG (Establishment) at the Central Police Office, Kashif Alam, till October 27.

Another bench of the high court on Wednesday had also restrained the accountability court from framing charges against Sadiq Kamal Orakzai, deputy inspector general of police, till October 27, the next date of hearing.

The bench put on notice the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit its reply to the question raised in the petitions. The petitioners sought the court order to refrain the accountability court from framing charges against him in the case.

They had also challenged the accountability court’s decision in which the court had dismissed the application of the petitioners filed under Section 265-D of the National Accountability Ordinance. Through the application, the police officers wanted exoneration in the case under Section 265-D of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Section 265-D explained that “If, after perusing the police report or, as the case may be, the complaint, and all other documents and statements filed by the prosecution, the court is of opinion that there is a ground for proceeding with the trial of the accused, it shall frame in writing a charge against the accused.”

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyers submitted before the bench that the petitioner had surrendered for a  trial in the case as the accountability court had earlier not summoned him along with other five police officers in the case as the case was not established against them.

However, they said, when the police officer joined the case and applied for exoneration from the charges in the case, his application was dismissed despite the fact that there was no evidence against him in the case but he was just a member of the purchase committee.The lawyer prayed before the bench to stop the accountability court from framing charges against his client because if the charges were framed, he could be suspended from his job.

However, the deputy prosecutor general NAB submitted that the high court could not pass an order to restrain the accountability court from framing charges as it would affect the trial.After granting an interim relief, the court told both the parties that the interim order was only up to next Thursday and the case would be decided after arguments on both the sides.Currently, a former provincial police officer Malik Naveed Khan and budget officer of the Police Department Javed Khan are facing trials in the case.