ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court, on Thursday, deferred indictment of former secretary interior Shahid Khan and others in a corruption reference pertaining to embezzlement of around Rs40 million in plots allocated for martyrs' widows case till September 9.

The Accountability Court-II judge, Muhammad Azam Khan, while hearing the case against former secretary Khan, Muhammad Rafiq Hassan, and others deferred framing of charge against the accused due to absence of Khan.

At the start of the hearing, Khan's counsel filed an application seeking one-day exemption for client from personal appearance before the court, which the court approved. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Usman Masood and the defense counsel appeared before the court.

The court adjourned hearing of the case till September 9. The NAB in November 2020 filed a reference against former secretary interior Shahid Khan and others. The NAB reference alleged that former secretary Khan had devoured the expensive commercial plot of the National Police Foundation (NPF), which was allocated for the families of martyrs.

It said that the accused applied against the plot and then got allotted it to him. The accused got this commercial plot in Sector E-II against only Rs2 million and sold it out against Rs40 million after just two days. The reference said that the former secretary was not eligible for the plot in accordance with the top court's judgment. The NAB Chairman (retired) Justice Javed Iqbal had taken suo motu action against the accused in 2015.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021