PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to produce details of the cases and inquiries pending against former MNA of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sajid Mohmand.

A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah fixed Oct 11 for next hearing into the petition of Mr Mohmand, who sought orders for law-enforcement agencies to provide details of FIRs registered against him or inquiries launched against him.

Advocate Ashfaq Daudzai appeared for the petitioner and contended that his client was a law-abiding citizen and served as MNA.

He said that after May 9 protests, which began over the illegal arrest of former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan, the police and other law-enforcement agencies registered cases against party leaders and workers.

Puts off hearing into petition of Sajid Mohmand until Oct 11

The lawyer contended that while the petitioner tried his level best to ascertain the exact number of cases registered against him, the relevant agencies didn’t provide the required information to him.

A representative of anti-corruption establishment (ACE) informed the court that presently, there was no case registered against the petitioner with it in Charsadda.

Additional advocate general Danyal Asad Chamkani claimed that the petitioner was aware of the cases pending against him.

He, however, requested the court to give him time to come up with the exact details of those cases.

The bench directed him to formally respond to the petition on behalf of the government revealing details of all ongoing cases or inquiries against the former lawmaker.

Ashfaq Daudzai also requested the court to extend the duration of the pre-arrest bail granted to his client.

He said that the petitioner also approached an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar in connection with an FIR registered in Ghalanai area of Mohmand tribal district and got an interim pre-arrest bail.

The bench observed that it had issued clear directives that once the interim bail was granted, then a petitioner could not be arrested by authorities without the permission of the court in any other case.

PETITION DISPOSED OF: A high court bench consisting of Justice Syed M. Attique Shah and Justice Wiqar Ahmad disposed of a petition filed by former provincial minister Amjad Ali against the placement of his name in the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) by the Federal Investigation Agency.

When the bench began hearing into the case, a representative of the FIA said the petitioner and his other family members had been removed from the PNIL, so they could travel abroad.

Advocate Alam Khan Adenzai appeared for the petitioner and said his client along with other family members intended to go to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj but was told that his name was on the PNIL, so he couldn’t go abroad.

He argued that his client had not committed any crime and was never convicted in any criminal case.

Meanwhile, the district and sessions judge granted the interim pre-arrest bail until Oct 9 to PTI leader and former deputy speaker of the KP Assembly Mahmood Jan, who is charged by the ACE with committing multiple irregularities in appointments to different departments in the province.

Judge Ashfaq Taj referred the case to the special judge (anti-corruption) for further proceedings.

The ACE has charged the petitioner with committing irregularities in utilisation of developmental funds as well as appointments in education, forest and other departments.

The petitioner counsel contended that his client was falsely implicated in the case on political grounds.

Meanwhile, two courts granted interim pre-arrest bails to former PTI MPAs Khaliqur Rehman Khattak and Idress Khattak until Oct 16.

Advocates Shah Faisal Ilyas and Malik Samiullah appeared for the former lawmakers.

They were given interim bail by the ATC over an FIR registered in Nowshera after May 9 protests for which several party leaders have been charged.

Also, the petitioners were granted interim bail by the special anti-corruption court in a case registered by the ACE. Both courts also sought records in the cases from authorities.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023