NICL scam: FIA gets 2 days to bring back investigator

DG FIA to be penalised for contempt if he fails to revoke Qureshi’s transfer: SC.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has given the chief of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) 48 hours to reappoint Zafar Qureshi as the lead investigation officer for the National Insurance Company Ltd (NICL) scam and has asked the agency to present the report it submitted to the parliamentary committee.

Presiding over a three-member bench, Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry warned Director-General (DG) FIA Malik Iqbal he would be penalised for committing contempt of court. His counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan tendered an unconditional apology on his behalf and asked for mercy for his client.

“There is a difference between mercy and justice. The court dispenses justice,” the CJP observed. “If convicted, the steps taken by the DG will be declared illegal.”

Justice Sair Ali said he could be granted a concession if he repatriated Qureshi to the FIA with immediate effect. The chief justice asked the DG to ‘wake up from his dreams’ and do something practical as he submitted he ‘would not dare to violate court orders even in his dreams.’

The counsel excused for the delay and said the Prime Minister has not been able to sign the summary for Qureshi’s repatriation after his return to the country due to his preoccupation with issues of national security. But the chief justice rebutted his claim that the PM was in Karachi. “He is in Islamabad presiding over the cabinet meeting of the Defence Committee,” the chief justice remarked and Khan was forced to concede.

Khan has asked the court to give the FIA till Monday to submit a progress report. The CJP had observed that FIA investigation officer Moazzam Jah had not informed the court that the NICL scam amounted to Rs18 billion, nor had he submitted his report to the bench. “If parliamentary committees were to become more proactive, it would reduce the courts’ workload,” the CJP remarked. The bench has directed Mohazam Jah to appear on the next hearing along with the report he submitted before the parliamentary committee.

The court had granted DG FIA one week for Qureshi’s reappointment on the counsel’s assurance at the last hearing. Iqbal was charged with contempt of court for initiating Qureshi’s transfer while he was leading the investigation of the land scam on the apex court’s directive.

The DG had written to the Establishment Division to issue Qureshi’s transfer orders since the embezzled amount had been recovered and the investigation was complete. During the investigation, the team led by Qureshi had uncovered evidence against former NICL chairman Ayaz Niazi and MPA Moonis Elahi and former DG FIA Waseem Ahmad among others. The hearing has been adjourned till May 27.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2011.