The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday closed the Malam Jabba corruption reference for ‘want of evidence’, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

A two-member bench of the PHC, consisting of Justice Roohul Ameen and Justice Ishtiaq Ahmed, heard the case.  

During the hearing of cases of alleged corruption in Malam Jabba, Billion Tree Tsunami and Bank of Khyber (BoK) projects, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted to the court its Executive Board’s meeting report, which disclosed that no ‘irregularity’ had been found in the project.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Roohul Amin said that BoK’s case had been separated from the rest and would be heard later. 

Counsel for the NAB told the court that references were being filed in the Billion Tree Tsunami project, while as far as the BRT project case was concerned, the Supreme Court had granted ‘stay’ in it.   

Notably, the Malam Jabba scandal surfaced on January 7, 2018 and the NAB chairman had declared it a classic example of corruption and power abuse. On January 9, 2018, he ordered a probe into the scandal and an investigation against KP former chief minister Pervez Khattak and several officials began.

Reporter: Syed Azmat Shah