PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on December 17 in the case of the ‘illegal’ award of lease of state forest land in Malam Jabba in Swat.
An official confirmed to The News that the NAB KP has summoned the chief minister next Monday through a call-up notice. He was asked to appear before the joint investigation team of NAB.
The NAB KP issued a notice to the chief minister in the Malam Jabba land lease case following the direction of the NAB chairman. The official said the chief minister would be questioned for his alleged involvement in the illegal lease. He added that the lease materialised at the time when Mahmood Khan was the provincial minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism in the previous PTI-led provincial government.
The NAB KP has also issued call up notices to the Senior Minister for Youth Affairs, Culture and Tourism Muhammad Atif Khan and the PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz for their alleged involvement in the leasing of land at the Malam Jabba summer resort to a private company.
The official that said the NAB had summoned Muhammad Atif Khan and Senator Mohsin Aziz on December 14 as part of the investigation in the case. The official also informed that the NAB investigation is under process over the allegations of illegal lease of 275 acres of state forest Land in Malam Jabba, district Swat to M/S Samsons Group.
It is to be mentioned that the anti-graft body had already recorded statements of federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Principal Secretary Azam Khan.
Earlier, in a call up notice to former additional chief secretary Mushtaq Khan, the NAB had stated that, “The competent authority has taken the cognizance of an offence committed by former chief minister Pervez Khattak, Khalid Pervez, former additional chief secretary Planning and Development Department KP, Mushtaq Khan, managing director Tourism Corporation KP, and others under the provisions of NAB Ordinance 1999.”
The notice stated that investigation into illegal award of lease of Malam Jabba resort, ski/chairlift and 275 acres of protected forest land has revealed that “you are in possession of information/evidence whatsoever relating to the commission of the said offence and thus called upon to appear before the Joint Investigation Team.”
The NAB KP had started the probe into the leasing out of the Forest Department’s 275 acres of protected land in Malam Jabba. The Malam Jabba forests were the property of the former Swat state ruler. The princely states of Swat, Chitral and Dir were merged into Pakistan in July 1969.
Later, all the forests in Swat were handed over to the Forest Department. On December 15, 1972 the forest land measuring 270 acres was declared protected. Again on December 20-22, 1975, the land was declared a protected area of the Forest Department.
According to the Forest Department, the Tourism Department could not sign any agreement for leasing the land or granting access to it. During the rule of the previous PTI-led provincial government though, 275 acres of the Forest Department land was leased out.
