Secret fund case: SC issues written warning to AG

Hamid Mir says Qadir displayed insolent behaviour to "sabotage" case.


Sunara Nizami September 27, 2012

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Thursday issued a written warning to Attorney General Ifran Qadir for interfering while arguments were being presented in the secret funds case after which the hearing was adjourned indefinitely, complainants in the case told the media.

Journalists Hamid Mir and Absar Alam, speaking outside the court said that while they presented their arguments in the court on where the money from supplementary grants was going, the AG, misunderstood where the figures were being quoted from and exhibited “a detestable example of insolence”.

“He started jumping up and down saying ‘it is not 4 billion but 400 million’,” said Absar Alam, highlighting one account of the incident.

“The man who tried to prove [President Asif Ali] Zardari was a crook, who stole the people’s money and put it in Swiss banks is now the attorney general and is defending him,” said Hamid Mir.

“I could never imagine a former judge to display such insolence in the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” he said, adding: “He did this deliberately and is trying to not let this case proceed because he has no arguments and had lied to the court.”

The journalists said that PPP should answer everyone how their representative could behave in such a way and said that it “is the party’s and Baloch president’s decision as to what message was given today to his Baloch brothers through their attorney general”.

“Irfan Qadir is not representing the federation, he is representing an advertising agency and Malik Riaz and both of them do not have their defense,” said Mir.

“They do not wish for the case to go forward and that is why such insolence was exhibited today,” he added.

Mir said that it was "a well thought-out attempt at sabotaging the case".

Escalating the issue to a national level, Hamid Mir said, “Now, the federation should decide whether they wish to upset the Baloch while favoring Malik Riaz and the advertising agency,” adding that the AG’s behavior was “a disrespectful towards Pakistan”.

“From the way the attorney general reacted with Akhtar Mengal in the morning and now with us, it seems like doesn’t want the Balochistan issue to be solved or the media to be regulated and have a code of conduct,” said Mir.

The journalists said that they had no personal enmity with anyone.

Alam said that they were fighting for their rights, so that tax payers’ money was spent correctly.

“We are not affiliated with any political party nor do we want to be party to any political disagreements,” he added.

He said that they wanted to expose the few owners who were making money off the journalists’ names, adding that these people should be exposed and this is what the entire case was about.

The Pakistan Federation Union of Journalists (PFUJ) also submitted an application in court today for becoming party to the case.

COMMENTS (8)

Dj | 11 years ago | Reply

To all the people who state that the sc has forgotten about general public cases..sc is trying to set an example that if these hi ups can avoid courts then how can the general public get justice..these hi ups need to be accountable and only then a middle man can expect fair justice..these politicians are alleged criminals chosen from the general public and the deserve harsh sentences if they r guilty and only then a common man like u and me can expect fairness

ufaquarian | 11 years ago | Reply

@Imran - Supreme court is not an investigative agency. When cases are not registered and those which are registered are not investigated properly , what can SC do ? they hear and decide on cases based on the information available. If 14 people die in Karachi everyday , are 14 cases filed for them ? No ! If they are they are against "na-maloom afraad" !

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