Father’s fraud case: Girl asked to show exam results

She was stopped from going abroad by the FIA.

KARACHI: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered a young woman, who was prevented from leaving the country because her father is accused in a fraud case, to file her O’ and A’ Level mark sheets and other education documents before the court.

The SHC bench comprising Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh was hearing a petition filed by Ayeman Feroz, who was detained by the FIA authorities at the Islamabad airport on December 25, 2010. Ayeman had been waiting to board her flight to the UK, where she said she is studying.

She said that her classes were to start from January 7 but the FIA officials detained her and also took her travel documents, air ticket and passport into custody.

The officials told her they needed her cooperation in an investigation against her father, Feroz Aslam, who is wanted in a fraud case of Rs50 million.

Since the rest of her family is in hiding, Ayeman is the only one who can help them, they had told her.

On January 14, Ayeman’s statement was recorded before the SHC registrar by a three-member team of FIA, headed by Deputy Director Syed Israr Ali. In her statement, she denied that she had any knowledge about her family’s whereabouts, including her father and main accused Feroz Aslam, mother Nusrat Parveen and brothers Asad and Shumail Feroz.

She told the FIA that her family has no property in Pakistan and she had only found out about the fraud case when she submitted a petition against the FIA officials.

After a brief hearing on Tuesday, the division bench adjourned the proceedings till January 20.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th,  2011.