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Thursday March 28, 2024

SC asked to take notice of FIA’s harassment of PPP MPs, workers

By Our Correspondent
August 09, 2021
SC asked to take notice of FIA’s harassment of PPP MPs, workers

ISLAMABAD: The PPP has condemned politically-motivated FIA notices to the party MNAs, MPAs, ministers, workers and office-bearers and called upon the Supreme Court to take notice of harassment of parliamentarians and political workers by the FIA.

The FIA has sent notices to eight PPP MNAs and MPAs including two provincial ministers among them, Dr Nafisa Shah, Qadir Patel, Shahida Rehmani, Naz Baloch, Shehla Raza, Qadir Mandokhel, Nasir Shah, Saeed Ghani, besides others.

The notices sent under Section 160 of CrPC is to personally appear before FIA because they received messages from a certain individual charged under Section 10, 11, 20 PECA 2016 for delivering a contemptuous speech against the chief justice. According to PPP’s statement Sunday, it is apparent that this is witch-hunting and using state machinery against the PPP spokespersons and office-bearers.

The PPP stated that to receive a message from any source on WhatsApp doesn’t constitute an offence under PECA Act 2016 nor under PPC, nor does it establish an acquaintance with the accused.

The PPP was of the view that as political persons, thousands of messages, complaints, even spam are received. “If an act of simply receiving a message is criminalised, whole country would be in prison,” it said.

It stated that although FIA knows that this text could have been sent to a number of people, how they could be presumed to have committed offence? The PPP through its statement made it clear that the party cannot be cowed down through such notices. “In addition, Supreme Court has not said in its order that everyone who has received message should be issued notice,” it added.

The PPP was of the view that it seems FIA is misusing its authority and misinterpreting the orders of the Supreme Court. “We fear that like NAB, FIA is being used for ‘political victimisation’ by the PTI government as the former FIA chief has already testified publicly,” it said.