ISLAMABAD: A local court in the federal capital on Wednesday accepted journalist Shahid Aslam's bail plea in the case of the "illegal and unwarranted" leak of tax information of former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa's family members.
On January 14, a district and sessions court sent Aslam into the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on two-day physical remand, and later into judicial remand for two weeks earlier this week.
Today, the court directed the journalist to submit the surety bonds of Rs50,000 against his bail.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had on November 21 last year taken notice of the "illegal and unwarranted" leakage of tax information Gen (retd) Bajwa's family.
"This is clearly a violation of the complete confidentiality of tax information that the law provides," a statement from the Finance Division read.
A day later, Dar shared that he has received the interim report related to the leak of Gen (retd) Bajwa’s income tax records, adding that the authorities have traced some people involved in the act.
The finance czar shared that one person involved in the leak is from Lahore and another from Rawalpindi.
However, he added that there is a possibility that some of the individuals involved may have the authorisation to look at the income tax records as there is a "circle" in Rawalpindi where assessments take place.
Later on December 2, 2022, the FBR suspended two officers — Zahoor Ahmed and Atif Nawaz Warraich — for four months for their alleged involvement in the data leakage. They are now facing charges.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly condemns Aslam's arrest by the FIA, saying the detention was a violation of the "freedom of speech" right.
The commission said that Aslam's arrest was also a violation of the Islamabad High Court's orders according to which the Pakistan Federation Union of Journalists (PFUF) has to be informed before investigating a journalist
"Such tactics laid an example of hindering investigative journalists," HRCP said in its condemnation.
In its statement, the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) condemned the FIA’s pressure on journalist Aslam for disclosing his source of news.
AEMEND, in the statement, observed that cases were being lodged against the journalists unabated in the guise of cybercrime to gag their voices.
Despite clear orders from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) about the journalists, the investigation agency did not change its approach, read the statement.
“Shahid Aslam was not only arrested without issuing any notice but he is being pressurised to disclose his source of news which is intolerable,” warned the media body.
Obtaining information is the professional responsibility of the journalist, AEMEND said, adding that lodging cases for fulfilling the duty are nothing but “suppressing the freedom of expression”.
The media body urged the government to take practical steps regarding the fake cases.
In view of the situation, AEMEND said that it was contacting other media organisations so that the joint stance of the media could be reiterated forcefully.
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