LAHORE:An accountability court on Tuesday returned Gujrat police funds embezzlement reference to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The court held that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction, as per NAB amended Law, and ordered the NAB chairman to place the matter before the court concerned without any delay.
The court noted that the accused were on bail in the matter and granted protective bail to them, after they assured to appear before the court concerned.
Accountability Court Judge Qamar-uz-Zaman passed the orders while deciding applications of the accused.
The accused through their acquittal applications had submitted that the accountability court was not empowered to hear any reference involving an amount below Rs 500 million, under NAB amended law. They submitted that the reference amount was below Rs 500 million and it did not come under the jurisdiction of the court.
The NAB probed four former DPOs of Gujrat, including SP Kamran Mumtaz, SSP Rai Ijaz, SSP Sohail Zafar Chattha and Rai Zameer. As per NAB claims, all four former DPOs during their tenure in Gujrat had embezzled millions under different heads of procurement, including petrol, uniforms, martyr funds, fake vouchers, pensions and alleged ghost employments.
The other accused in this case included former District Accounts Officer, Gujrat Chan Peer (2016-17), District Accounts Officer, Gujrat Muhammad Afzal (2014-16), Muhammad Fayyaz Muharar DPO Office, Gujrat, Rameez Ahmad ex-constable DPO Office Gujrat, Muhammad Ashraf Senior Auditor Accounts Gujrat, Muhammad Asif Butt Bank Manager, Gujrat and Shakeel Ahmad, Bank Operation Manager, Gujrat.