ISLAMABAD: A local court on Saturday granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) two days physical remand of a journalist in a case registered against him over his alleged involvement in leaking tax data of former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s family members.
The FIA produced the journalist, Shahid Aslam, who was arrested on Friday from Lahore before Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir. The court after hearing the arguments of both prosecution and defense approved two days physical remand of Aslam.
The prosecutor, while arguing before the court, said that the agency had arrested the journalist on Friday. The suspect was getting information from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
He provided this information to another journalist Ahmed Noorani, the prosecutor said, adding that there is concrete evidence the suspect was leaking information.
The prosecutor said that Aslam had provided the information to foreigners. He requested the court to grant physical remand of the accused to conduct further investigation from him.
The suspect, Aslam, denied all the charges against him, saying that there was no evidence against him as he has done nothing wrong.
He further said that he has been covering FBR stories for the last many years. “I am a journalist and I know my professional duties,” he added, adding that he has not provided any data to another person regarding former COAS.
The prosecutor said that why Aslam was not providing the password for his laptop. The judge remarked that it was not wrong to get information as a journalist.
The prosecutor further said that the accused leaking information from the FBR have repeatedly named Aslam.
Aslam’s lawyer requested the court to discharge the case against his client. The court after hearing arguments of both parties, approved two days physical remand of the journalist.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023