Seeking acquittal in multi-billion rupees weapons purchase scam

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday remanded back the case of three senior police officers to the accountability court with the directives to give a fresh decision on their applications filed under Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking acquittal in the multi-billion rupees weapons purchase scam.

A two-member bench of Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim set aside the accountability court’s earlier decision on the applications of the senior police officers and remanded back the case to the court.

The three serving police officers including the then DIG Headquarters Peshawar, Dr Mohammad Salman, then AIG (Establishment) Kashif Alam and then DIG (Telecommunications) Sadiq Kamal Orakzai had filed the writ petition against the decision of the accountability acquittal in the charges.

During the hearing, the petitioners’ lawyers Barrister Mudassir Ameer and Aamir Javed submitted before the bench that the high court had disposed of their cases after they agreed to join the trial court in the case.

However, the high court observed that the petitioners could avail all the legal remedies under the law in the trial court including submission of application under Section 265-K for acquittal in the case.

The lawyers argued that the petitioners then filed applications in the accountability court seeking acquittal in the case, but the trial court dismissed the applications against which they filed writ petition.

They said the high court then stopped the trial court from framing charges against the senior police officers till decision in the petition.

The lawyers submitted that the petitioners had no role in the case and that was the reason the accountability court didn’t summon them in the case despite the repeated requests by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

They stated the trial court’s decision to dismiss applications of the petitioners was against the law. They prayed that the court to declare the accountability court’s decision void and acquit them of the charges in the case.

The NAB’s senior prosecutor, Azeem Dad Khan, appeared in the case and submitted that the trial was pending due to the petitioners’ writ petition.

He said the names of the petitioners were in the reference and they had to face the trial. He requested the court to dismiss the writ petition.

The names of the six police officers including the petitioners and the former commandant of Frontier Constabulary (FC) Abdul Majeed Marwat and DIG at Central Police Office Sajid Ali Khan were mentioned by the NAB in a reference filed before the accountability court, but the court didn’t summon them for framing of charges by observing that their roles had not been spelt out in the reference.

The order of the accountability court was then upheld by the PHC.

The reference was filed by NAB against 10 persons, including the six police officers, who were members of the purchase committee.

The prime suspect in the case, Malik Naveed Khan, who was then the provincial police officer, and budget officer of the police, Jawed Khan, are presently on bail and under trial in the accountability court.

The case was registered three years ago and an enquiry was launched in purchase of weapons for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in 2009-2010.

A reference worth Rs2.03 billion was prepared against 10 people, most of them serving police officers.

Former IGP Malik Naveed, among three others, was arrested on November 20, 2013 and they have now secured their bail petitions in the case.

On July 7, 2015, the former IGP and former budget officer of police Javed Khan were indicted for receiving kickbacks from a private contractor, and causing loss to the exchequer.

The provincial government had approved Rs7 billion for purchase of weapons for KP police in 2009-2010 when militancy was at its peak in the province.

The NAB claimed that around Rs2.03 billion were embezzled and a reference was filed against 10 persons.

According to the NAB, the contract was awarded to a firm that had no previous experience of supplying such items, while payments were made in advance in sheer violation of rules and regulations.

Another suspect, Ameer Ghazan Khan, who is brother of former chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti, was acquitted by the court while his brother-in-law Raza Ali was set free after his plea bargain application was accepted by the NAB.