Petitions on BoK, Malam Jabba scams disposed of

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday disposed of two writ petitions regarding the closing of probe into scandal of Bank of Khyber filed by National Accountability Bureau and inquiry into Malam Jabba scam earlier ordered by the court.

The PHC two-member bench, comprising Justice SM Attiq Shah and Justice Wiqar Ahmad, was informed that the probe into BoK scandal cannot be continued as per the new NAB laws while the Malam Jabba case had already been shelved by the court and it cannot be reopened. Similarly, the bench was told that the NAB had also scrapped a probe into Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) against Peshawar Development Authority Deputy Director Alamzeb Khan, therefore, the writ became infructuous and further proceedings could not be continued.

Upon this, the court declared that the NAB had said it cannot continue investigation against the accused, therefore, the hearing into these cases cannot be continued. The court extended the bail before the arrest of accused BRT contractors till February 22 and adjourned the hearing into the case due to the appearance of their lawyer Wasim Sajjad before the larger bench in Islamabad.