PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday refused to stop the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) from examining assets of former provincial minister and PPP leader Liaquat Shabab.

It, however, asked the commission not to harass the former minister during inquiry.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaisar disposed of a petition of Liaquat Shabab, who requested the court to restrain the Ehtesab commission from checking his assets and arresting him.

The petitioner had also insisted the mechanism adopted by the commission in conducting the inquiry was illegal and violated the provisions of KPEC Act 2014.

Currently, the KPEC is examining assets of the petitioner, the excise and taxation minister in the previous provincial government, suspecting he possesses assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

It had also conducted a raid two days ago in Nowshera district to arrest him.

Lawyer for the petitioner Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah said on May 6, a notice was issued to his client by the Ehtesab commission asking him to visit their offices in connection with an inquiry against some excise officers.

He added that when his client visited the commission’s offices, he was handed over a lengthy form to give details of his assets.

Ahsanullah said his client had been asked to fill the form within a week, which was impossible as he had to furnish scores of important documents related to his properties.

He said if the Ehtesab commission wanted to examine his client’s assets, it had do so in line with the KPEC Act.

The lawyer said the commission didn’t serve prior notice on his client and suddenly asked him to produce details of assets within a week.

He said the officials of Ehtesab commission harassed his client and were raiding different premises to arrest him.

Ahsanullah said unless his client produced details and sources of his properties, how the commission could conclude that the assets were made by illegal means.

He said his client belonged to a respectable family and had never been involved in any illegal activity.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play