PESHAWAR: A division bench of Peshawar High Court on Monday accepted the bail request of Musa Khan Baloch, a senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl and a close aide of its chief Fazlur Rehman, after an accountability court could not succeed in completing the trial within the prescribed limitation period.
During the proceedings, the high court gave a dressing down to the National Accountability Bureau court for being unable to complete the trial. In her response, the junior court tendered an apology.
Baloch, a former divisional forest officer, was arrested by NAB in September last year on the charges of possessing illegal assets.
In January this year, the dirty money watchdog filed a reference against him, accusing him of accumulating illegal assets, embezzling official funds and making illegal appointments.
Besides Baloch, the NAB also charged three others, including an associate of his, Mohammad Arsalan Aziz; and two foresters of the Dera Ismail Khan forest division, including Mohammad Farooq and Qaiser Abbas Baloch.
The agency claimed that the amount of money involved in the case totalled Rs56.03 million, which was about the assets of Baloch, his bank transactions and embezzlement of official funds.
