PHC issues arrest warrants for former NAB DG

Humayun Khan
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court Monday issued arrest warrants for former Director General (DG) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Saleem Shahzad for torturing his fellow officer Khattab Gul in 2015.
According to the petitioner’s lawyer, the case was filed in Peshawar High Court against former DG NAB Saleem Shahzad for torturing his official Khattab Gul in 2015 after a session court acquitted him from the case in September 2015 while ignoring the Khattab Gul’s medical test report in the decision.
Petitioner’s lawyer Ehsan-Ullah Jawad requested High Court to annul the decision of the Session Court. In the series of events, the Peshawar High Court issued a bailable arrest warrant against former DG NAB and summoned him for the next month hearing.
Meanwhile, Peshawar High Court (PHC) has stopped district administration from arresting Secretariat Employees Association (SEA) office holders and directed Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit reply, on Monday.
A divisional bench of PHC comprising of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Arshad Ali stopped administration from arresting SEA members while hearing writ petition of Emir Munsif along with other secretariat’s employees.
The counsel Farooq Afridi Advocate informed PHC that petitioners are representatives of different associations while they had placed some demands while government has reduced their shares in Provincial Management Services (PMS) despite fulfilling their demands.
The counsel added that SEA has observed strike after reduction in PMS’s share and announced to carry a movement in favor of their demands while Deputy Commissioner (DC) Peshawar has issued arrest warrants of presidents of different association on 22nd September under 3MPO which is against law.
The counsel Farooq Afridi Advocate argued that they cannot be arrested under 3MPO because all associations and added that employees didn’t made any illegal demand. He argued that the employees are demanding their constitutional rights and if it didn’t then they have the right to protest in favor of their demands.
The advocate further argued that Constitution of Pakistan does not permit anyone to abrogate fundamental rights of any citizen and requested for cancellation of 3MPO notification. The PHC’s divisional bench comprising of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Syed Arshad Ali stopped district administration from arresting SEA representatives while ordered Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit reply and adjourned further hearing.