PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday put on notice the director general (DG) of Ehtesab Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a writ petition challenging the arrest of former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi. A division bench comprising of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Mrs Irshad Qaisar issued the notice to director general of the Ehtesab Commission, Lt Gen (Retd) Hamid Khan and Director Investigation Wing to submit replies and explain their position about Ziaullah Afridi’s arrest before July 23. The Ehtesab Commission had arrested Ziaullah Afridi on Thursday on charges of misusing authority and allowing illegal mining in various areas of the province.Ziaullah Afridi’s brother Hidayatullah Afridi had challenged his arrest in the high court. During the hearing, his lawyers Abdul Latif Afridi and Moazzam Butt submitted that the arrest of Ziaullah Afridi and his custody by the Ehtesab Commission was illegal and unlawful as the warrant and grounds of arrest were vague and ambiguous. The lawyers pointed out that the detainee (Ziaullah Afridi) had developed serious differences with the higher authorities, who had threatened him with dire consequences on the issue of mines and minerals for registering cases against blue-eyed people belonging to the home districts of the high-ups. They maintained that Ehtesab Commission’s decision to arrest the former provincial minister was aimed at gaining cheap popularity.They pointed out that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had already initiated inquiry against the department of mines and mineral development and many officials, but suddenly the Ehtesab Commission arrested the former provincial minister.
