Hijazi approaches IHC after acquittal plea dismissed

Suspended chairman of SECP has been on bail since Aug 8

ISLAMABAD: The suspended chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Zafarul Haq Hijazi, on Saturday challenged the dismissal by a special court of his plea to acquit him of charges of tampering with the record of a company owned by the Sharif family.

Through his counsel, Hijazi requested the Islamabad High Court to set aside the November 10 judgment of the Special Court, Central, of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the case and acquit him. He cited the state and special court judge as respondents.



Hijazi filed an application under Section 249-A (power of magistrate to acquit accused at any stage) of the Criminal Procedure Code for summary disposal of the first information report (FIR), which was dismissed by the court. Special Court Judge Irum Niazi observed that there was sufficient evidence to proceed against him.

In the new petition, Hijazi said the order was based on misreading and non-reading of complete record of the case and had caused miscarriage of justice, claiming that it was clear from the record that he had become a victim of mala fide investigation.

“The charges framed under the FIR are motivated by enmity, malice and ulterior motives on part of the prosecution as well as the prosecution witnesses,” he stated.

The trial court passed the order without considering that it would amount to an abuse of process of law, he said, adding that if the prosecution was allowed to continue with the trial, it would be a futile exercise, wastage of time and abuse of process of court.

The petitioner contended that the trial court had dismissed his petition without considering the law points and it was contrary to the principles of fairness, objectivity and transparency. He added that the court had ignored that a case was not made out from the contents of the challan and there was no probability that the petitioner might get convicted.

On October 27, the special court framed charges against Hijazi over tampering with the record of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills owned by the family of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Hijazi pleaded not guilty after Judge Niazi indicted him under Section 420 (cheating), 466 (forgery) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 5(2)(47) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.



After the indictment, the special court asked the prosecution to start presenting evidence and witnesses to establish its case.

The FIA booked Hijazi on the directives of the Supreme Court, which was hearing the Panamagate case against the Sharif family. The case was registered on July 10, 2017 and Hijazi was arrested on July 21. He has been on bail since August 8.

Hijazi’s counsel argued during the proceedings that officials of the SECP had tampered with the record themselves and accused him of pressuring them to do so.