PHC extends stay order in Chinese firm case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday extended stay order about restraining the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from arresting the chief executive of a Chinese firm and its Pakistani director till next order.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Nisar Hussain Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth extended the stay order and asked the lawyer of the petitioners to file rejoinder to the NAB’s reply in the case. Fakhre Alam Jhagra and Barrister Waqar Khan appeared for the petitioners and sought some time for submission of rejoinder to the NAB’s reply in the case.

The NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had issued call-up notices to the petitioners, directing them to appear and join the inquiry about involvement of the Chinese firm in illegal mining. The chief executive of the Chinese firm and its Pakistani director had challenged the NAB’s notice in the high court seeking its restraining order as they feared to be arrested if they joined the inquiry. The NAB claimed that the firm as it was excavating antimony from mines in Chitral and selling it illegally in China.