Zafar Hijazi's indictment deferred till Oct 20 due to prosecutor's absence

ISLAMABAD: An Accountability Court on Wednesday deferred indictment of former Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman Zafar Hijazi in Chaudhry Sugar Mills record tampering case till October 20 due to absence of the prosecutor.

Special judge, Irum Niazi, was to hear arguments on framing of charges against Hijazi in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills record tampering case.

Due to absence of the government’s counsel, the court adjourned the matter for the next hearing on Oct 20.

The accused was provided the charge-sheet during the last hearing of the case on September 26.

Hijazi, , who is out on bail, has been booked in the case in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order in the Panama Papers case for allegedly tampering with financial records of the Sharif family’s company.

The Federal Investigation Agency took Hijazi into custody in July, after a report released by the Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) alleged that the former SECP chairman had altered records related to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.

It found chairman SECP Zafar Hijazi guilty of record tampering and recommended criminal proceedings against him and two of his subordinates – Ali Azeem and Maheen Fatima – under Section  466, 472, PPC read with 5(2) Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) 1947.

SECP Director Maheen Fatima had accused the SECP chairman of exerting intense pressure on her to blame the Panamagate JIT of misbehaving with her during an interrogation session.

In her statement to the probing team, she asserted that the money laundering investigation against Chaudhry Sugar Mills was closed on the chairman’s directives.

The director had further accused the chairman of threatening her with dire consequences including transfer to Gilgit-Baltistan on defiance of his orders.

The Panamagate JIT had previously complained to the top court that SECP had allegedly tampered with the record, apparently to favour the Sharif family who owns Chaudhry Sugar Mills.