Illegal appointments case: AC extends physical remand of two officials till November 9

An accountability court on Wednesday extended physical remand of two officials of Ministry of Housing and Works for another eight days in connection with an ongoing inquiry regarding illegal appointments against senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and former federal minister for housing and works Akram Khan Durrani. The NAB officials produced two officials including Mukhtar Badshah Khattak, member Departmental Selection Committee, and Muhammad Atif Malik, chief admin officer Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD), before accountability court Judge Muhammad Bashir on expiry of their physical remand.

The NAB officials requested the court to extend physical remand of the accused for another 14 days in order to conduct further investigation. According to NAB, Khattak played a key role in illegal recruitment of employees in Pak PWD. Another accused Muhammad Atif Malik allegedly gave illegal benefits to applicants and helped them in issuance of fake domicile for getting jobs in Pak PWD in violation of rules.

The NAB officials also said the accused have held meetings with Durrani and now the NAB wants to ascertain the role of Durrani in the illegal appointments. Defense counsel Qasim Nawaz Abbasi while objecting to the NAB's request said there is an allegation against the suspects that they have facilitated illegal appointments. Those who had been appointed on different posts have domicile of Islamabad, he said, adding that issuance of domicile to an applicant does not come under the domain of the accused.

He said his client had no role in issuance of 58 domiciles and it is the authority of deputy commissioner to issue domicile. "There is no signature of his client over these domiciles or the applications filed for the purpose," he said. He said NAB should be asked what kind of investigation it has done during the previous remand.

The NAB prosecutor said the accused told during investigation that the domiciles had been issued on the instructions of Durrani and personal assistant of deputy commissioner Rahmat Ullah. He requested the court to extend physical remand of the accused to conduct further investigation. After hearing arguments of both the parties, the court reserved its verdict for some time. The court while announcing its judgment extended the physical remand of both the accused till Nov 9.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019