IHC rejects FIA’s plea to cancel Imran’s bail in funding case

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has rejected the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) plea to cancel the bail of PTI chief Imran Khan in the prohibited funding case.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri conducted the hearing on the plea on Wednesday, reported Express News.

The court also rejected the request to cancel the bail of co-accused Tariq Shafi.

The FIA had filed an application in the IHC on Feb 28 against the banking court’s decision to grant bail to the PTI chief and appealed the court to annul the decision as it was “against the law”.

During the course of hearing, FIA Special Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi argued that Imran Khan has not yet been interrogated by the agency in the case, asking the court to cancel his bail.

IHC Chief Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani asked if money laundering allegations in the FIR were against Arif Naqvi and Imran Khan or Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the recipients of the funds.

The FIA counsel said that Imran Khan in a recent interview admitted that he received funds for charity purposes but used them for political activities.

Justice Kayani inquired that if the money was used by a political party then how it became personal belonging. The FIA lawyer said it was a crime to send charity money through someone else's foreign account.

Justice Kayani asked the FIA counsel to submit the letter of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that the investigation agency received during the investigation. “You did not include the employee of the State Bank in the investigation. Changing the name of a bank account is not a crime. Has State Bank taken any action to change the name or nature of account?” the judge inquired.

The FIA lawyer replied that the relevant record of UBL bank is missing and a written response was sought from the SBP, which they have provided.

The court remarked that keeping records are the responsibility of the bank and PTI did not take them. “Did Imran Khan sign the nature of account change form?” the judge asked.

The FIA lawyer said that Younis Ali, Tariq Shafi and Sardar Azhar Tariq signed the form to change the nature of the account.

“This is a white collar crime. We have to investigate a lot of things,” he added.

However, Justice Kayani pointed that nature of account had not been changed and added that the entire case comes under the ambit of the SBP.

“What is Imran Khan's relationship with Tariq Shafi? What money has Imran Khan been withdrawing? Who is the signatory of this account? This account belongs to Tehreek-e-Insaf, so the Committee of Tehreek-e-Insaf has to run it. How did Imran Khan become beneficiary?” the judge inquired.

FIA prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi replied that Imran Khan is the chairman of the party, hence he is the beneficiary.

Contempt case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed concerned authorities to submit a security report over the law and order situation created during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's visit to the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) last week.

Chief Justice (CJ) IHC Justice Aamer Farooq was presiding over a hearing in relation to a contempt of court petition filed against Imran Assistant Commissioner (AC) Abdullah Khan through his lawyer Rizwan Abbasi.

In his petition, AC Khan has maintained that Imran had been ordered by the court not to create a law and order situation, "but he breached those orders".

The AC said that the police had made security arrangements in accordance with court orders while PTI workers pelted stones at the police deployed outside the FJC, owing to which several law enforcement personnel sustained injuries.

During the proceedings at the IHC today, the court ordered IG Islamabad and concerned authorities of the local administration to submit a report on the events of March 18.

The court adjourned proceedings until April 7 and also consolidated the case with an ongoing case being heard by the IHC probing into the missing Toshakhana case file.

Last week, as the PTI chief had made his way to Justice Zafar Iqbal's court, police and Imran's supporters clashed for several hours.

Amidst the chaos, Imran was allowed by the court to sign his documents from his vehicle parked outside the courtroom where his indictment was to be decided.

The ex-premier's chief of staff Shibli Faraz had taken the order sheet to get Imran's signature alongside SP Malik, however, upon his return, the file had been reported missing.

Ultimately, the PTI chief was allowed to leave after marking his attendance without being indicted because of clashes between police and party activists outside the FJC.