PHC issues notice to Ehtesab Commission in Ziaullah Afridi case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday issued notice to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission in a bail petition of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi in two more cases related to illegal mining.
A two-member bench comprising of Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Muhammad Younas Thahim directed the Ehtesab Commission to submit comments before September 1 on the next date for hearing.
In one case regarding illegal mining and illegal appointments, posting and transfers, the high court on August 24 granted interim bail to Ziaullah Afridi, but he remained in prison on judicial remand in two more cases.
Lawyers Abdul Lateef Afridi, Barrister Mudassir Amir and Ishtiaq Ibrahim represented Ziaullah Afridi in the court. Deputy Prosecutor General Ehtesab Commission Zahid Aman represented his organization in the case.
The lawyers for Ziaullah Afridi submitted that the commission first claimed that he had been arrested in illegal mining generally and later insisted that he had a hand in illegal mining in Nowshera. They pointed out that after completion of the period of his physical custody the Ehtesab Commission again obtained his remand in two more cases by alleging that he was involved in illegal mining in Charsadda and Abbottabad.
They questioned whether the Ehtesab Commission wanted to keep him in its custody for his entire life.
They argued that their client was falsely implicated in the cases on the basis of malafide intent.
They said that under the Ehtesab Act 2014, a suspect could be remanded in custody of the Ehtesab Commission
by the Ehtesab Court for 45 days.
The lawyers added that since his arrest, their client had been in custody of the Ehtesab Commission for 45 days. They pointed out that the Ehyesab Court sent him on judicial remand in two more cases that are similar in nature to the first one.
They added that in the Ehtesab Act there was no provision of judicial custody after completion of physical remand, but now the government has brought amendment to the Act, but it was not applicable to their client. They said that before this amendment, all the suspects were released by the court on the basis of the same point, but their client was being discriminated against.
Ziaullah Afridi, who had been elected MPA on the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ticket in the 2013 general election from PK-1 Peshawar, was arrested on the charges of misuse of authority and corrupt practices on July 9.
Former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi was the minister of mines and mineral development at the time. Following his arrest, he was sacked from the cabinet.