SHC dismisses former MPA’s plea against FIR registration, arrest

Through his application ex-MPA Samar Ali Khan sought a review of the SHC’s order in which it had modified the interim restraining order to the extent that the inquiry officer of the case would act strictly in accordance with the law.

The Sindh High Court building in Karachi. — Facebook/The High Court of Sindh, Karachi

The inquiry officer of the FIA had informed the court that he had concluded the inquiry, and he recommended the registration of an FIR against the then provincial governor Imran Ismail, MPA Khan and MNA Najeeb Haroon.

The petitioner’s counsel claimed that his client Khan had stopped being an active participant in the PTI’s activities around 2011 or 2012, and he had nothing to do with the party’s funding that was streamlined by the central finance committee.

He also claimed that the inquiry initiated by the FIA was based on mala fide intention, and requested the court to modify its order, and restrain the agency from lodging an FIR against his client and arresting him in connection with the case. The deputy attorney general opposed the application.

After hearing the arguments of the counsel, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto said that the interim order was modified to the extent that the inquiry officer would act strictly in accordance with the law.

The court said that no error floating on the record is found in the November 27 order. The bench said that the review’s scope is very limited, as it is not appealing or rehearing only on the grounds that one party or the other conceives himself to be dissatisfied with the court’s decision.

The SHC said that neither any mistake or error is apparent on the face of the record nor any other sufficient reason or justification is made out by the petitioner to review the order of the court. The bench dismissed the application and adjourned the hearing of the main petition to four weeks later.

Former governor Ismail, ex-MNA Haroon and others had challenged the initiation of the FIA inquiry after the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order in the PTI’s foreign funding case.

The petitioners’ counsel had said that the FIA’s impugned notices telling the petitioners to appear in respect of the bank accounts operated by the PTI had been issued after the ECP’s order.

He said the ECP had not referred the matter to the FIA, and the notices issued by the FIA were, therefore, without jurisdiction and aimed at only harassing and humiliating the petitioners.

He also said the FIA’s notices were issued with mala fide intention because no law permits the agency to initiate an inquiry into an affair even if the ECP observed that an unknown account was opened, but it was operated by the petitioners and the co-signatories for electioneering.

Neither the ECP nor the federal government can issue directions to any agency for the fulfilment of their allegedly ill wishes to take cognisance of a matter that does not fall within the FIA’s ambit or is totally beyond its jurisdiction, he added.

He requested the court to declare that the initiation of the inquiry pertaining to the petitioners’ bank accounts closed in such an undue haste was without lawful authority, and to set aside the call-up notice issued by the FIA to the petitioners.

The FIA officer, however, contended that the subject inquiry has been initiated in accordance with the law, and that the FIA is the competent authority to investigate banking crimes in the country.

He said the agency is investigating the bank accounts that were opened without the mandatory documents, adding that the FIA is authorised to find any discrepancy committed in the opening of the bank accounts.

He also said PTI leaders have admitted in court that the party has owned only eight of the 24 accounts between 2008 and 2013. The Peshawar High Court has also declared the FIA’s proceedings as lawful in an identical matter, he added, and requested that the SHC dismiss the petitions.