Court puts former ANP MNA, brother on notice

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday put on notice former Awami National Party (ANP) MNA Naseemur Rehman and his two brothers in an appeal of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the acquittal by the accountability court in assets case.

A division bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali admitted the NAB appeal for hearing and issued notice to the respondents.

The court also sought record of the case. The NAB KP filed an appeal through additional deputy prosecutor NAB, Zair Nawaz.  against the acquittal of the former MNA and his two brothers

The accountability court on September 9, 2017 acquitted former Awami National Party MNA Naseemur Rehman and his two brothers in an illegal assets case registered by the NAB around 15 years ago.

The NAB claimed that the accountability court judge accepted the application without recording statements of the accused and thus did not fulfill the legal requirements to give chance of defence in the case.

The accountability court had accepted an application jointly filed by the three suspects, including Naseem, Mujeebur Rehman and Masoodur Rehman, under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the court to acquit an accused before the conclusion of the trial if there is no possibility of conviction in light of the available evidence.

Naseemur Rehman, a noted industrialist from Mardan, was elected MNA in the 1997 general elections on the ticket of the ANP.

The NAB had charged the three along with their father, Anwarur Rehman, and two nephews Asad Saleem and Faisal Saleem with possessing assets to the tune of Rs82.09 million and claimed those assets were disproportionate to the known sources of their income.

Anwarur Rehman had passed away, whereas the two accused, Asad Saleem and Faisal Saleem, have already been acquitted by the court.

The court observed that the evidence didn’t deny the thriving business of Anwarur Rehman and that it was an admitted fact that the family of the accused not only owned properties but also purchased them in 1952.