Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan on Monday appeared before the NAB's investigators and claimed that the National Accountability Bureau has given him a clean chit in Malam Jabba's forest land case. According to details, KP CM Mehmood Khan appeared before the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) Peshawar office in connection with a case involving misappropriation of land leased out in Malam Jabba for ski resorts.
According to NAB officials, Mehmood was summoned for questioning in his capacity as the former provincial minister for sports, culture, tourism and museums. He was to be questioned about his alleged involvement in the scam during the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in KP.
Responding to a question during talks with newsmen after appearing before the NAB's investigators here, Mehmood Khan, who was the minister for sports, irrigation and tourism during Pervez Khattak's cabinet, said it was his "first and last appearance before NAB" in this case.
He said that the NAB did not charge him directly in the case, but summoned him in the capacity of a former provincial minister. He said that he told the NAB officials that he did not know about the case.
"I was not aware of the lease nor had I signed any order allowing the lease," Khan said. He said that he had to check whether he was minister at the time of awarding the lease as his ministry was changed during last PTI's government.
The chief minister defended the government's decision of leasing the forest land, saying that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government encouraged investment.
Mehmood Khan said he did not remember if the alleged illegal lease took place during his tenure as the provincial tourism minister.
He added he had no connection to the case, adding that the provincial government was making efforts to boost investments.
Earlier, in January this year, it emerged that the KP government had illegally leased 275 acres of land in Malam Jabba, a tourist attraction in Swat district, which belonged to the provincial forest department.
The provincial government was to lease a mere 17-acre patch: five acres for construction of a hotel and 12 acres for a chairlift project, for 15 years. However, instead it allegedly gave 275-acre land to a private company on lease for 33 years, violating the rules and regulations. The vast tract was reportedly leased despite objections by the KP Ehtesab Commission and CM's inspection team.
NAB had launched an inquiry into the matter on the instructions of its chairman former Justice Javed Iqbal.
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