Interference in high-profile cases: SC summons DG FIA, Director Law

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has summoned the Director-General (DG) of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Director Law in sou motu case of perceived interference in high-profile cases, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to details, the Supreme Court has issued written order of the hearing – held on May 27 – of the sou motu case. The apex court has sought the record of those who left the country after the amendment to the Exit Control List (ECL) rules.

The SC said that the amendments to the ECL rules were applied from the previous dates. “It remains to be seen whether the ministers who benefited from the amendment distanced themselves from the cabinet meeting,” it added.

The Supreme Court also sought reasons from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to remove the names of the accused from the ECL. In its written order, the top court noted that FIA had only mentioned record of one high-profile case, while no details were provided regarding other cases.

In this regard, the SC summoned the DG FIA and the Director Law at the next hearing and directed the investigation authority to inform the top court about keeping records of all high profile cases.

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday sought details of the cabinet members whose names have been removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) by FIA, ARY News reported.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Supreme Court had taken sou motu the government’s alleged interference in high-profile cases. In the last hearing. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that the names of those involved in corruption and tax theft of Rs10 million were removed from ECL.

The chief justice asked Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf to read section 2 of the ECL Rules, 2010, according to which terrorists, tax defaulters and loan defaulters cannot travel out of the country.

“Did the federal cabinet give approval to ECL rules,” the CJP questioned. To which, attorney general told apex court that he will present minutes of federal cabinet meeting before the court.

On May 19, the Supreme Court had barred the government from the transfer of investigation officers in high-profile cases of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).