NICL case: SC censures FIA's approach

Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that the FIA did not want the culprits of this case to be unveiled and punished.

ISLAMABAD: Judges of the Supreme Court have said that the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) approach of catching the smaller criminals and letting the bigger ones off the hook in the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) case is unacceptable,  Express News reported on Tuesday.

The apex court remarked that the footprints of the financial irregularities that had been unearthed in court hearings of the scandal could be traced back to the bank accounts of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) President Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

In his remarks, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry noted that the national treasury had been embezzled in the past and that senior appointments at the NICL were made with the sole approval Faheem and not on the basis of merits.

Disagreeing with the remarks of the FIA’s lawyer who claimed that the embezzled money had been retrieved, Justice Azmat Saeed said that the agency did not want the case to move forward and the culprits to be punished.

The Chief Justice further remarked that the main aim behind the pursuit of this case was to bring to an end, the ongoing stealing and embezzling of national wealth and resources.

The chief justice further censured the FIA for not taking action against the known culprits in this case.