PESHAWAR: An accountability court here on Tuesday formally ordered the closure of an investigation against former provincial chief minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao in the illegal assets case at the request of the National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Judge Mohammad Ibrahim Khan issued the orders after the NAB filed an application withhim stating it had no evidence incriminating Aftab Sherpao for possessing assets disproportionate to the known sources of his income.

Few weeks ago, the NAB executive board had decided to close the investigation against Sherpao, who is currently an MNA, over a decade after its start.

NAB special prosecutor Nauroze Khan informed the court that the allegations of possessing illegal assets against Sherpao couldn`t be proved and therefore, the bureauhad decided to close the investigation for the purpose.

The investigation in question was launched on Oct 7, 2000.

The erstwhile Ehtesab Bureau, which was set up by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his previous government, had initiated several cases against Sherpao, including the current one.

The bureau had suspected that Sherpao had possessed $1 million worth of foreign currency notes, which were not part of the known sources of his income.Following the establishment of the NAB by the General Musharraf-led government, Sherpao was tried in different accountability cases and was acquitted in all of them.

He had also left the country when the NAB was formed, and was declared proclaimed offender.

Sherpao later returned and faced cases before being acquitted in them.

He later became a federal minister when General Musharraf was the country`s president.