IHC restrains FIA from sealing places during inquiry

Order came on restaurant owner's petition after FIA sealed eatery over copyright dispute

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from sealing any public place during inquiry and declared any such act illegal.

The court ordered that the agency should exercise great restraint in intervening at the stage of inquiry and directed the DG FIA to issue appropriate instructions to subordinate officers against sealing off any place during investigations.

IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani issued the directives while hearing a petition filed by a restaurant owner who approached the court against FIA’s move to seal off his eatery for allegedly using a trademark and deceptively similar name while the case was still pending.

According to the court’s decision, the FIA proceeded to seal the place upon the complaint of a citizen named Naeem Butt who claimed that Muhammad Waseem was running an eatery with a certified copyrighted name of his restaurant.

Declaring the FIA’s move as against the law, the IHC ordered the DG FIA to conduct an investigation keeping in view the records and submit a report to the high court through MIT.

Regarding the FIA's conduct of sealing a place at the inquiry stage, the order stated that such conduct was in total violation of the law wherein powers were abused, which fell under the category of misconduct.

“Such like action on the part of FIA officials is condemnable and cannot be taken in lighter tone. The officials of law enforcing agencies could not be granted license to humiliate the people without any legal justification,” the court observed and noted that departmental action, therefore, was necessary.

Meanwhile, FIA sub-inspector Aoun Abbas told the court that the inquiry against petitioner Mohammad Wasim was still pending. However, he failed to satisfy the court that the style of name and artistic work was the same in the parties' copyright case, the order observed.

When asked by the court whether the FIA was legally empowered to seal any place at the stage of inquiry, the assistant attorney general could also not provide a legal ground to justify the agency’s action.

The order also stated that the FIA sub-inspector did not have a single piece of evidence to justify his act of sealing the restaurant while the inquiry officer has neither written a single inquiry report nor any diary on a daily basis.

“This conduct of FIA is beyond their jurisdiction,” it said and entering a place without any permission and reason was arbitrary.

“At the inquiry stage, only evidence has to be collected and no action can be taken,” the court ruled.