Judicial review plea filed in MQM money laundering case

LONDON: A ‘Judicial Review’ application has been filed at the London High Court in the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) related money-laundering investigation, seeking answers from the police in relation to various aspects of the investigation so far.
Scotland Yard has confirmed to Geo News that the judicial review case had been launched by a person who is “at present on police bail in the money laundering investigation”.A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that the police force had received “the paperwork” from the court “indicating a request for a judicial review”.
It’s not known who the person is behind the appeal in high court and the police spokesman refused to reveal the name of the person stating that it would not disclose the identity as the matter was between the court and the police and no comment would be made.
Speaking anonymously with Geo News, a police source said that the judicial review appeal related to the on-going investigation into the MQM and had raised questions about the nature and pace of the investigation.
The spokesman said that the police was “currently considering the position” with reference to the judicial review matter. It means that the police have not yet filed a reply to answers asked by the claimant/appellant through the court but will certainly submit a reply within the given time period. The spokesman refused to comment on the time limit given to the police by the court.
The police source said that the judicial review application directly addressed Scotland Yard’s chief Bernard Hogan Howe and sought explanations from him.
It asks the police to explain why police bail has been extended till February and prays to the court that the police inquiry should be stopped altogether if there is not sufficient evidence, confided the source.
It’s been exactly three years that the money laundering investigation was started but while top MQM leaders had been interviewed under caution and remained on police bail, no one had yet been charged. For the police, the whole investigation had become a dilemma after the leakage of official papers stating that the police had proofs based on interviews of Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir that Indian spy agency RAW had funded MQM activities in Britain.
Renowned criminal law expert Barrister Zarif Khan told this scribe that the judicial review was “in effect asking a high court judge to rule upon the justification of continued bail for over 3 years. This is by all accounts is a complex, drawn out, cross jurisdictional investigation”.
Barrister Zarif Khan, who has acted on behalf of the defendants in some of the biggest terrorism and money-laundering cases in the UK history, added: “It’s my understanding that the police have been asked to justify why it continues to extend police bail, which meant there was not enough evidence to charge. For example, if the police sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to a charging decision and if it is a possible cause of delay and if the delay is due to the police investigation.
The judicial review is an avenue to flesh out the status as well as the stage of the investigation. In my experience of dealing with money laundering and terrorism cases, it is not unusual for investigations to take many years depending on the complexity as this certainly falls within that category.”