PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday directed the anti-corruption establishment (ACE) to provide details of cases registered against provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

The directions were issued by a bench consisting of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal during the hearing into the petition of Mr Gandapur for the issuance of orders to the Federal Investigation Agency, police, National Accountability Bureau, and ACE to produce details of cases against him.

In the last hearing on Feb 27, the court provided interim relief to the petitioner by stopping police and other agencies from arresting him in any of the cases until further orders.

Law-enforcement agencies other than the ACE have already provided information about those cases to the court.

Advocate general Shah Faisal Uthmankhel appeared for the provincial government, whereas the petitioner was represented by lawyers Syed Sikandar Hayat Shah and Arshid Ali.

Assistant attorney general Danyal Khan, additional director legal of the FIA Abdur Rehman Afridi, and a NAB prosecutor also appeared before the court in the case.

Lawyers for the petitioner said Mr Gandapur was a law-abiding citizen and the chief minister of the province.

They said while the petitioner was aware of some of the cases in which he was granted protective bail by the high court, there might be several other cases about which he had no information from the government.

The counsel said they would approach the relevant courts for relief after learning about the cases.

They contended that under Article 19-A of the Constitution, which guaranteed access to information, it was the right of the petitioner to get information about the cases registered against him or any inquiry started against him by any of the law-enforcement agencies.

The advocate general said there were six cases registered against the petitioner in Dera Ismail Khan, while the challan (final charge sheet) had already been submitted to the relevant courts in those cases.

The FIA’s representative said there were only two inquiries against the petitioner in Dera Ismail Khan.

The NAB prosecutor insisted that, presently, a single inquiry was under way against the petitioner.

After learning that the ACE had so far not provided the relevant details, the bench wondered if government agencies were acting in such a manner towards the chief minister, then what their attitude would be towards the common man.

The AG informed the bench that a high-level meeting was called for April 29 to decide about the cases registered after May 9 protests on political grounds.

Justice Shakeel Ahmad observed that instead of “pulling each other’s legs,” political parties should work together to serve people’s interests.

He added that he had seen video footage of a father selling his four children because of poverty.

The judge wondered in which direction the country was heading as the people suffered, but political forces, instead of addressing people’s issues, were busy in a power struggle.

The bench observed that it was the need of the hour that the political forces should jointly address those pressing issues.

The AG said that the government didn’t believe in the politics of revenge.

He added that the provincial chief minister, during a meeting with the prime minister, made it clear that he was ready to cooperate with the federal government in resolving people’s problems.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2024