PHC issues notice to FIA, interior ministry officials

Currency market sealing

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday issued a notice to secretary interior and director general Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a writ petition filed for reopening of a currency market.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Syed Afsar Shah issued a notice to respondents. They included secretaries Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Interior, DG FIA, State Bank of Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through chief secretary, deputy commissioner Peshawar and inspector general of police, directing them to submit replies in the petition.

The Currency Sarafa Association through its general secretary Shakeel Ahmad Saraf had filed the petition through his lawyer Abdul Sattar Khan.

During hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer submitted that on January 14, the FIA with the assistance of district administration and city police raided the currency market at Chowk Yadgar, Peshawar, and sealed about 300 shops dealing in Afghan currency and arrested about 45 people.

The lawyer submitted that the dealers in the currency market had been doing this business since 1947 with the approval of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The lawyer said that ‘Red Passes’ had been issued to the dealers for the business of Afghan currency in Pakistan.

He argued that in 1999 some shops of Afghan currency were also sealed during martial law, but they were reopened on the order of deputy commissioner of Peshawar.

He submitted that only the State Bank of Pakistan has the jurisdiction to issue a notice for stopping the business in the country after proper legal procedure as the FIA, district administration and police have no jurisdiction to seal the shops and stop legal business in the city.

It may be mentioned here that on January 14, the FIA and local police in a joint operation raided a currency market in Chowk Yadgar area and arrested 45 dealers allegedly involved in hundi business.

After the raid, FIA Deputy Director Qazi Abdul Hameed said they had sealed four buildings, which were being used by the dealers.

The action was taken after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s apex committee, in its meeting in November 2015, discussed the issue of illegal money transfer and decided to stop sources of terrorist funding and to end process of transfer of money through hawala and hundi.