Ownership of Afghan National Market in Peshawar: Afghan bank appeals to PHC to review decision

PESHAWAR: An official of Afghan National Bank on Monday appealed to the Government of Pakistan and the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to review the decision about the ownership of a market in the city as the building was purchased by the Afghan government in 1946.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, a representative of Afghan National Bank Safiullah Kajori said that the PHC had given its verdict in favour of Syed Zawar Hussain Abidi in 2014 regarding the ownership of Afghan National Market in Peshawar.

He was flanked by lawyers and chairman of traders union of Afghan National Market Peshawar and others on the occasion.Syed Shakeel Khan Gilani said that he had filed an appeal in the PHC on behalf of the Afghan government to reconsider its previous verdict as the court was provided fake and fabricated documents via QPR number 17763.

He claimed that Afghan National Bank was shown as a private bank though it was one of the official banks of Afghanistan and had purchased the property of Afghan National Market in 1946.

He said the Afghan government had contacted the Board of Revenue (BoR) to verify the QPR of Saadat Hussain Abidi, who had claimed that this property was allocated to his family after partition of India. “Now we have found out that Zawar Hussain Abidi and his family had obtained fake documents and presented these documents in the courts.

He said that the Consul at Afghan Consulate in Peshawar had written a letter to the chief justice of the PHC to inform him that the visa branch of the Consulate had been functioning in the same Afghan National Market. He said the court was also informed that the Afghan government had been paying property tax to the Government of Pakistan since long.

He said the Afghan government had also appealed to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to probe the matter and provide actual information to the court and also Government of Pakistan. He requested the court to stop the forced evacuation of the traders and office-holders from the Afghan National Market in Peshawar.