NICL case: FIA chief flies abroad 2 days before court appearance
Due to appear in front of a Supreme Court bench on Wednesday (July 13), Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Syed Tahsin Anwar Ali Shah on Monday is learnt to have left the country for Britain.
The FIA chief was expected to submit a compliance report to the court on its orders regarding the cancellation of transfers of a four-member investigation team probing the multi-billion-rupee National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam and stopping action against former lead investigator Zafar Qureshi.
Shah will be on leave till July 20.
During his absence, sources said, his charge will be handled by Additional DG FIA Immigration Chaudhry Muhammad Manzoor, who is likely to appear in the court on behalf of DG FIA.
Meanwhile, the ministry of interior, in reaction to media reports that Qureshi was given ‘options’ in a meeting on July 3-4 with the interior minister, has released the purported minutes of the meeting in question.
On July 7 the Supreme Court warned of serious repercussions to everyone involved in offering the ‘options’ to Qureshi.
The interior ministry published the ‘details’ of the minutes of the meeting on July 9. This meeting, which was presided over by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, was attended by Interior Secretary KM Siddiq Akbar, Inspector-General of Police Islamabad Binyamin and Zafar Qureshi.
The ministry tried to give an impression that Qureshi, who is also the managing director of the National Police Foundation (NPF), had briefed the minister on corruption cases in NPF. The minister is said to have approved the NPF budget during this meeting. Interestingly, the NPF budget for 2011-12 had already been approved in a meeting chaired by then interior secretary Chaudhry Qamar Zaman on June 28.
When The Express Tribune contacted Qureshi, he declined to comment the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2011.
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This story makes it quite clear that in Pakistan, especially under Pipliya Raj, no sanctity whatsoever is attached to "budgets duly and properly passed". Budgets can be "passed" as many times as the powers that be so desire. The repetition of the exercise in the case in question was a convenient cover for "Star Wars" Rahman Malik to whisper- on its sidelines- sweet nothings in the ears of a recalcitrant police officer like Zafar Qureshi ! What a pity that he suffers from deafness and that too barely three months from his superannuation from government service. His behaviour is also most "un-Pakistani" because he is unable to see which side of the bread is buttered. Here was a golden opportunity for him to ensure for himself a comfortable post-retirement life and he blew it. Talk about intelligent and sagacious people!