Acting on the directions of a division bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) - comprising Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth and Justice Mussarat Hilali - the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated a probe on alleged financial misuse and administrative irregularities in Peshawar BRT project.

The bench, on July 19, directed NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to probe into the project’s irregularities, which has been marred by one delay after another.

The court directed the anti-graft body to investigate why the BRT project was not completed on time and why the project’s costs escalated. A two-member team of the anti-graft body confiscated the records pertaining to the mega-project from the office of Peshawar Development Authority.

The deadline for BRT project’s completion has been delayed several times. The first deadline was April 20, which was extended by a month to May 20. The then-project director told media that the civil work would be completed by June 20; a deadline which also passed without the project’s completion.

The cost of the project, at the same time, has purportedly hiked from Rs49 billion to Rs64 billion. Former KP CM Pervez Khattak said that the Asian Development Bank made all decisions with regard to Peshawar BRT project and that he had no role in any of the decisions.

The former chief minister, who has in the past claimed credit for the project, said the project's cost was estimated less as they were inexperienced.