PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday issued a stay order stopping the National Accountability Bureau Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from arresting and harassing eight current and former officials of the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan during the inquiry into the alleged irregularities in appointments to and use of funds and award of scholarships by the varsity.

The order was issued by a two members bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Roohul Amin Khan.

Eight serving and former officials of the AWKUM, including former registrar Professor Zahoorul Haq, had filed a petition through lawyer Arshad Ali for issuance of an order by the court to restrain the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from arresting and harassing them during its inquiry against them on various charges.

The lawyer said the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had arrested Zahid Mehmood, superintendent of the university, when he joined the NAB inquiry on a call-up notice issued to him in the university appointments case.

He said his clients were fully cooperating with the NAB in inquiries into the alleged irregularities in the university’s scholarships, appointments and funds but they feared to be arrested during inquiry. NAB senior prosecutor Umar Farooq assured the bench that the bureau wouldn’t arrest the petitioners if they fully cooperated with it in the inquiries underway against the university.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2016