PHC stops EC from arresting special assistant to ex-CM

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday stopped Ehtesab Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from arresting Syed Masoom Shah, a special assistant to then chief minister from the Awami National Party Ameer Haider Hoti, and probing his assets till next order of the court.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Roohul Amin Khan issued the restraining order. The bench also stopped the commission from further proceedings in inquiry against the petitioner in the assets case till the next order of the court.
The court put on notice the Ehtesab Commission to submit reply in the writ petition, seeking cancellation of the commission’s inquiry against him. During hearing of the case, the petitioner’s lawyer Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah submitted that the Ehtesab Commission in the last week of May had summoned the petitioner. He was asked to fill out a form about his movable and immovable assets.
He submitted that the Ehtesab Commission inquiry into assets of the petitioner was illegal and against the law, as the NAB had already initiated an inquiry in 2013 which was still pending.
The lawyer said that under Section 35(3) of Ehtesab Commission Act, 2014, the commission would first through application transfer a case from the NAB. In this case, he said, the commission violated its own laws and started another inquiry into the same case without transferring it from NAB, which was pending before the NAB KP.
The lawyer further added that the petitioner was cooperating with the NAB in the inquiry into his assets. He said initiation of the second inquiry into the same assets case was against the law and was unconstitutional. He requested the court to stop the commission from inquiry against the petitioner.
Separately, the same bench issued notice to Ehtesab Commission in a bail petition of three accused persons arrested for alleged involvement in grabbing Rs250 million government land in Kohat.
The bench asked the commission to submit replies in the bail petition of the three arrested persons. They included tehsildar Muhammad Ghulam, patwari Kamran, and a beneficiary of the alleged land grab, Taj Mohammad.
On April 17, the Ehtesab Commission arrested chief coordinating officer of Kohat District Council Noor Daraz, who is the father of Karak Member Provincial Assembly Gul Sahab Khattak, tehsildar Mohammad Ghulam, patwari Kamran, girdawar Daud Khan and beneficiary of the alleged land grab Taj Mohammad.The petitioners’ lawyer Muhammad Ayaz submitted that they were wrongly arrested in the case as had no role in the land scam. He requested the court to release the petitioners on bail.