SHC issues show-cause notice in Arif Alvi accounts freeze case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued a show-cause notice to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for not complying with the court’s order in the case of the freezing of the bank accounts of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and former Pakistan president Dr Arif Alvi and his wife.

Dr Alvi and his wife Samina Alvi had petitioned the SHC that their bank accounts had been blocked by private banks on the directions of the NCCIA. An SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha said the NCCIA’s investigating officer had been ordered to appear in court with the relevant case record, and the NCCIA director general was asked to ensure the IO’s appearance.

The bench said that neither the IO nor the DG appeared in court. The court issued a show-cause notice to the IO to explain the non-compliance. The SHC also repeated notices to the DG, saying that if the IO does not appear in the next hearing with an explanation, the DG must appear in court.

The bench also said the court would pass an appropriate order if both officers fail to comply the SHC’s orders and do not appear in court on July 2. The petitioners’ counsel Ali Tahir said the NCCIA had initiated baseless inquiries against Dr Alvi under the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 298 and 298-A, which pertain to blasphemy-related allegations.

Tahir said the respondent agency’s officials had issued letters to the banks where his client and his family members have their accounts and had asked them to block them. He said the petitioner and his family members are unable to access personal and lawful funds due to the arbitrary and unlawful directives of the NCCIA issued to the private banks.

He also said that neither the Federal Investigation Agency Act nor the anti-money laundering act confers any authority on the NCCIA to unilaterally freeze or block the accounts of the petitioners without observing any due process of the law and legal procedure.

The counsel said that the private banks and the NCCIA had offered no opportunity of hearing to the petitioners with regard to justifying their action. He said the absence of procedural safeguards in such a serious matter is not only alarming but also underscores the respondent agency’s disregard for law and constitutional governance.

In the previous hearing, the SHC had, as an interim measure, allowed Dr Alvi to withdraw up to Rs1 million from his bank account in Islamabad for the purpose of his general living expenses until the next hearing.