The Supreme Court indicted Director General of the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA), Malik Muhammad Iqbal for contempt of court here on Friday. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani was hearing the contempt of court case against DG, FIA.
The court directed Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Molvi Anwarul Haq to prepare and submit charge sheet against Malik Iqbal within eight hours. The court further directed him to present all relevant record of Zafar Qureshi's transfer and details of the scam.
In May, the Supreme Court had issued contempt notice to Malik Muhammad Iqbal for interfering in court's affairs by transferring Zafar Qureshi, who was investigating the multi-billion-rupee scam in the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.
The DG FIA had written a letter for transfer of Additional Director General Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, who was investigating NICL scam on SC order, as Director General of the National Police Foundation (NPF). During the course of hearing, the CJP said that Inam Ghani was made OSD because he had recommended him. On this, DG FIA told the bench that Ghani was transferred on his request that his son was ill. Justice Ghulam Rabbani said that if courts did not curb such acts, it would not bear good results.
Later on, the AGP prepared and submitted the charge sheet to the Supreme Court, which was read out to DG FIA by the chief justice and also handed over to him to respond. The chief justice observed that the DG admission and apology was enough so there was no reason to frame the charge against him, adding that Malik Iqbal spoiled the whole investigation in NICL case. He said that many high profile personalities were being named in the scam along with Federal Minister Amin Fahim.
Malik Iqbal pleaded that he was willing to leave the work, but the court rejected his plea. His lawyer submitted that his client was retiring on July 14 and he was ready to go on leave. The court directed Iqbal to file a written reply to the court.
However, in his written reply he said that he did not want to defend the charges against him as he has great honour for the court. The SC ordered AGP to present the record of earlier investigation in NICL scam by Zafar Qureshi and other officers. The court also directed the AGP to present the details of Qureshi's transfer and directed FIA to present the details of the case in the court. The hearing was adjourned till June 8.
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