PHC confirms bail plea of official in illegal assets case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday confirmed interim bail to special secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department Siraj Ahmad Khan in the assets case.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ijaz Anwar confirmed the interim bail. The petitioner's lawyer, Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah, stated that his client was a Grade-20 officer who had served against different important administrative posts. He added that presently the petitioner had been serving in the Home and Tribal Affairs Department as special secretary.

He stated that NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had started an inquiry into the assets possessed by the petitioner and had issued a call-up notice to him asking him to turn up at the NAB headquarters in Peshawar.

He added that the petitioner apprehended that he might be taken into custody if he visited the NAB office. He argued that the petitioner had been cooperating with NAB in the inquiry.

He added that the petitioner was a respectable officer and had details about the sources of his properties.

The bench confirmed the interim bail after the NAB's prosecutor Umar Farooq informed that the inquiry in the assets case had been completed and reference filed in the accountability court against the petitioner. He said that after filing the reference in the case, he was not required now to the NAB for investigation.