PESHAWAR two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed, on Friday granted bail to Gul Faryan Bibi, wife of the main accused Qaiser Iqbal, in the Upper Kohistan financial scandal case, while rejecting the bail applications of four other accused.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner, Syed Abid Shah, appeared before the court along with Special Prosecutor Arbab Kaleemullah representing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as well as lawyers for the other accused.
Advocate Syed Abid Shah argued that his client, Gul Faryan Bibi, is merely the wife of the principal accused and a government employee, and that no substantive role has been attributed to her in the alleged scam.
He informed the court that NAB had already obtained her physical remand and completed its investigation, yet she has remained in jail for months without evidence of direct involvement.The counsel contended that being a woman, she is entitled to legal leniency, that there is no risk of her absconding, and that continued detention until trial would be unjust - particularly as NAB’s investigation into other accused is still ongoing with no clear timeline for completion. On the other hand, NAB’s Special Prosecutor argued that the remaining four accused are directly involved in the scandal.
According to the prosecution, Shafiq-ur-Rehman (District Accounts Officer), Raziullah (member of the audit committee), Alamzeb (senior auditor), and Fazal Rahim (owner of a private company) played active roles, and substantial evidence exists against them. One accused has already entered into a plea bargain, while others have reportedly surrendered assets as part of ongoing accountability proceedings.
