PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Monday declined to hear two petitions filed by two former officials of the Pakistan Tobacco Board seeking pre-arrest bail and regular bail in a case of alleged illegal appointments in the board.

When Justice Roohul Amin Khan Chamkani and Justice Syed Afsar Shah began hearing into the petitions of former PTB chairman Sahibzada Khalid and former secretary Noman Bashir, one of the judges observed that he could not hear the cases due to ‘personal reasons’.

The bench referred the petitions to the chief justice requesting to fix it before any other bench of the high court. On Aug 31, the National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had arrested the former PTB secretary, Noman Bashir, presently serving as director at the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), on the charge of misuse of authority by carrying out alleged illegal appointments of 36 officials in PTB in connivance with other officers of the board.

Later, the NAB also included former PTB chairman Sahibzada Muhammad Khalid in the case. He has filed a petition seeking pre-arrest bail. Few days ago, the high court had granted him interim pre-arrest bail directing the NAB not to arrest him until further orders. Advocate Abdul Lateef Afridi appeared for Noman Bashir, whereas lawyer Farmanullah Khattak represented Sahibzada Khalid.

Refers petitions of ex-PTB officials to CJ for fixing them before another bench

Farmanullah Khattak said his client had served on different key posts and had recently completed his stint as the chief information commissioner appointed under the Right to Information Act in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said his client enjoyed the reputation of one of the most honest senior officers and was known for his uprightness.

The lawyer said while the NAB claimed that the appointments were made during a ban on recruitments, there was no such thing on record.

He added that the petitioner was implicated in a false case at the behest of one of the then federal minister, who wanted appointments to different posts through persons of his choice. The lawyer said the petitioner had categorically informed the minister in writing that he would act in accordance with law only.

He referred to different judgments of superior courts saying it was not binding on a public servant to follow illegal orders of a minister. The lawyer said it was interesting that the NAB had been questioning why the petitioner had not followed the orders of the minister.

Lateef Afridi insisted petitioner Nauman Bashir had not acted in illegal manner as the PTB board of directors had already given prior approval to the appointments to different posts.

He added that several appointees had already been working on certain projects of the board.

The NAB claims that there were instructions of the commerce ministry regarding ban on recruitments but despite that, the petitioners had carried out those appointments in violation of those instructions.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2016