PESHAWAR: The Anti-Corruption Court of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has issued a notice to the relevant investigating officer in the case of alleged wheat embezzlement worth millions of rupees at the wheat storage facility in Azakhel, Nowshera. The officer has been summoned to record his statement in court.
According to the Daily Mashriq report, Judge Asif Rashid, during the hearing, was informed by the prosecution’s legal officer that the trial involves the accused individuals Muhammad Arshad, Muhammad Khalid, Qazi Junaid Bacha, Tila Muhammad, and others. One of the accused, Usman Abid Shah, remains at large.
The accused were employed at the Azakhel wheat storage warehouse in Nowshera, where they are alleged to have conspired and stolen 1,700 tons of wheat. The embezzlement has caused a loss of 20 million rupees to the national treasury.
The court has instructed the relevant Anti-Corruption officer to appear and provide a statement on the case.
PHC quashes Anti-corruption action against Chitral’s Village conservation committees
Earlier on March 7, the Peshawar High Court has declared the inquiry and proceedings initiated by the Anti-Corruption Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the use of funds for Markhor trophy hunting in Chitral illegal and ruled that the local community has an exclusive right to 80 percent of the income generated from hunting Markhor and Ibex.
Justice Muhammad Fahim Wali issued a detailed 12-page decision, in which the applications of 12 Village Conservation Committees (VCCs) were accepted. The court termed the anti-corruption action as an abuse of powers and undue interference in the functioning of the conservation committees.
The judgment clarified that as per the government notification, 80 percent of the proceeds from trophy hunting are for the welfare and development of the local population, and the community has full authority to use this fund.
The court remarked that preventing local people from using the funds is against the spirit of the wildlife conservation scheme. The petitioners’ lawyers, Ghufranullah Shah Advocate and Abdul Basit Advocate, took the position in the court and said Local people do not harvest crops on their lands just so that the Markhors that come down from the mountains in winter can use them as food.
The share received from trophy hunting is the only major source of income for the people of these poor areas, which they spend on development projects. Anti-Corruption had taken the position that the committees can only withdraw the interest received on the funds, not the actual amount. However, the court rejected this position in light of the Chief Conservator of Wildlife’s report, which acknowledged that the community was entitled to 80 percent of the money.
