PTI councillors move PHC against Peshawar nazim

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s District Council members on Tuesday moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against their party’s District Nazim Muhammad Asim Khan to seek directives to the anti-graft bodies to probe embezzlement of millions of rupees funds approved and released in the name of schemes which do not exist on the ground.

PTI Peshawar District Council members Noor Wali and Rehman Afzal and Jamaat-e-Islami member Tahir Khan filed the writ petition through their lawyer Inam Yousafzai.

The petitioners have sought probe into the spending of millions of rupees funds of the Peshawar District Council. They have prayed the high court to summon record of the Peshawar District Council for the year 2015-16 and 2016-17 as Rs420 million are missing from the District Council funds as there is no record of this amount.

“The high court is requested to summon detailed record of each and every penny which is spent and those which are earned from different sources to the government in order to unearth the embezzlement committed by the district nazim and other respondents. Furthermore, the concerned authorities, including KP Ehtesab Commission, NAB or anti-corruption department be strictly directed to proceed against the respondents immediately,” the petitioners argued in the writ petition.

They prayed the court to direct the Peshawar District Council to release their funds stopped by the District Nazim after the probe into the embezzlement of funds.

Nazim Muhammad Asim Khan who belongs to the PTI, Secretary LG, Director General NAB KP, assistant director Local Government and Chairman RTI were made parties in the petition.

The petitioners claimed in the petition that they have probed and visited various union councils for which the Nazim had approved and released over Rs80 million for seven development schemes, but these did not exist on the ground. They had filed an application and submitted with assistance director LG to provide record of the money spent on various schemes and also of the funds of the District Council, but to no avail. They claimed that the assistant director had later convoyed to them that he was strictly told by the Peshawar District Nazim not to provide record to the petitioners.