LAHORE:An accountability court on Thursday returned the Punjab University illegal appointments reference to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over lack of jurisdiction.
The court directed the bureau to take up the matter with the relevant forum for further action.
The court ruled that the matter did not fall under its jurisdiction as per amended National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
Accountability Court Judge Qamaruz Zaman passed the orders while deciding applications filed by the accused for acquittal on the basis of the amendments to the NAO.
The accused, through their applications, had submitted that the reference involved an amount of Rs 3.6 million only and the court lacked jurisdiction to hear it. They submitted that under the amended NAO, misappropriation of less than Rs500 million, did not constitute an offence. They submitted that neither the NAB could investigate such an offence nor any accountability court could hear it.
Former PU vice chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran, former PU registrar Prof Dr Liaqat Ali and two additional registrars Prof Dr Aurangzaib Alamgir and Prof Dr Kamran Abid were accused of 550 illegal recruitments at the university and for giving away scholarships to students who were not eligible. Dr Kamran remained the PU vice chancellor from January 2008 to December 2016.
The Lahore High Court had granted bail to Dr Mujahid Kamran and others in the case.