Mohsin Baig case: Islamabad AG says judge exceeded jurisdiction

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday decided to send a reference against the additional sessions judge for declaring the raid of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) “illegal” to arrest Mohsin Baig, local media reported.

Advocate General for Islamabad Niazullah Niazi called on Prime Minister Imran Khan. The advocate general apprised the premier that the additional sessions judge had given the verdict in Mohsin Baig case in haste without fulfilling the legal requirements as he had exceeded his jurisdiction.

Niazullah Niazi said that a reference would be filed against the judge soon. He said that Mohsin Baig had pointed a gun at FIA and police officials besides threatening the on-duty officers. “Being a media person does not allow anyone to take the the law into their own hands,” said the advocate general for Islamabad.

PM Imran Khan said, “Everyone is equal before the law. Constructive criticism is beneficial for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.” He added that the opposition had launched criticism against the government without any agenda.

A district and sessions court in Islamabad had declared the raid on the house of journalist Mohsin Baig illegal on Wednesday. The FIA arrested Mohsin Baig on the complaint of federal minister Murad Saeed against a discussion during a television channel’s show.

Chief Justice (CJ) of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah, meanwhile, conducted in-chamber hearing of the petition seeking dismissal of terrorism case against Mohsin Baig.

The IHC CJ summoned a detailed report from SHO Margalla Police Station today (Friday). The petition seeking dismissal of terrorism case registered by FIA against Baig was filed by his wife in the court.

Separately, addressing a press conference, Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed meanwhile said that he had no role in how the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) proceeded following his complaint on remarks made against him during the TV show, adding that he had acted according to the law by registering a complaint and had no involvement in subsequent proceedings by the FIA.

"As a Pakistani, who has confidence in the Constitution and law of Pakistan, I acted in a lawful manner. After that ... how the institution proceeded, it is its mandate. I shouldn't be asked about this," he said.

Saeed also clarified that in his complaint, he had only referred to the television show during which the remarks were made and requested for legal action. The minister claimed that he was being targeted through a smear campaign by those political leaders who are part of the status quo and never wanted young leaders like him to become part of parliament.

“Those who consider parliament as their property and politics their business are running a malicious campaign against me,” Saeed said. Saeed said whenever any political leader dared to unmask the corrupt practices of corrupt political leaders, he was targeted with such campaigns.

“Whenever I raise voice against injustice and corruption [political leaders] like Qadir Patel, Hafiz Hamdullah, Aga Rafiullah, Rana Sanaullah and others use foul language against me,” he added. The media cells of PPP and PMLN were also involved in running the smear campaign against me on social media, he added.

The minister said he was ready to hold a debate on the performance of his ministry and the criteria on which his ministry retained top position among ‘top ten best performing ministries’. Saeed said he belonged to a middle-class family and rose to the top in politics through his political struggle.

The minister said he was the founder of PTI’s student wing, Insaf Student Federation (ISF) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and added that due to his efforts ISF became the strongest student body in the province. “I was amongst them who took to the street against drone strikes and other matters,” he added.