PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Monday granted bail to former divisional forest officer Musa Khan Baloch, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau last year on the charges of accumulating illegal assets, embezzling government funds and making illegal appointments.

A bench consisting of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah accepted the bail petition of Musa Khan, who is stated to be an associate of opposition JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, on the condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs10 million each.

The NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had taken the petitioner into custody in Sept last year and filed a corruption reference against him in Dec.

He was indicted by an accountability court in Jan along with three co-accused, including suspected associate Mohammad Arsalan Aziz and two foresters of the Dera Ismail Khan Forest division Mohammad Farooq and Qaiser Abbas Baloch.

NAB held Musa in Sept last year, filed graft reference against him in Dec

The accused had pleaded not guilty to the offence.

Musa Khan was also the chief of JUI-F Paharpur tehsil, DI Khan, while his son, Tariq Baloch, is personal secretary to the JUI-F chief.

Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah, lawyer for the petitioner, contended that his client had spent over 10 months behind bars.

He said the bail petition of his client was rejected by the high court on Dec 23 ordering the completion of his trial within six months.

The counsel said of the total 66 witnesses, 59 had appeared before the court during the trial.

He added that around seven months had passed since the high court had given orders for the conclusion of the trial within six months.

Mr Ehsanullah cited several judgments of the superior courts in support of his contentions saying it is clear that once the time-frame given by the court for the conclusion of the trial was not followed, an accused was entitled to the concession of bail.

A NAB prosecutor contended that the amount involved in the corruption reference totalled Rs56.03 million, including the assets of Musa Khan, his bank transactions, and embezzled funds.

He contended that the trial of the petitioner was under way and there was a likelihood of its conclusion in the near future.

The prosecutor said the investigation had established that the petitioner had made illegal appointments and, while in league with other accused, embezzled a huge amount of funds of the Sustainable Land Management Programme, which were meant for desertification and land degradation in the province.

He contended that the petitioner, who retired from the government service in 2017, possessed assets to the tune of Rs19.297 million, which was disproportionate to the known sources of his income.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2021