SC orders arrest of PM’s former ‘media coordinator’

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to positively arrest Mian Khurram Rasool, former media coordinator to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani accused of extorting Rs 530 million fraudulently, and produce him before the court on January 24.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez issued the orders while hearing a petition filed by Pervaiz Hussain and others against Rasool.
The PM’s former media coordinator allegedly swindled over Rs 530 million from a Karachi-based company on a promise to arrange a petroleum export licence to supply NATO forces, while awarding a contract to trade Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). The court warned FIA Director General Tehsin Anwar Shah of criminal action if he failed to apprehend Rasool. The petitioners’ counsel, Rasheed A Rizvi, told the court that Rasool, along with his brother Shahid Mehmood and another accomplice Ghulam Ghous, had also forged signatures of the Petroleum and Natural Resources secretary on various agreements.
FIA Director (Legal) Azam Khan said the agency had no clue about Rasool’s whereabouts, requesting more time to arrest the purported high-profile criminal. The chief justice observed that nobody had dared to arrest Rasool earlier because he was residing in the Prime Minister’s House. Rizvi said that Rasool had collected the payments on the pretext of managing LPG quota and oil export licence for two companies of the petitioners, including Sahara Gas (pvt) Limited and Pak Delta Enterprises (pvt) Limited, to NATO forces in Afghanistan. He said that Rasool was not being arrested for last 11 months, while a man was arrested from Malaysia within three days on the orders of President Asif Ali Zardari, as he was accused by the president. The chief justice replied: “We know the FIA chief does not obey court’s orders, but even then we have granted him so many chances.” Rizvi said the petitioners learnt about the forgery of signatures when they presented the documents for implementation to the relevant government departments. He said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and the Pak Arab Refinery Company (PARCO) informed the petitioners that all the agreements presented by them were forged documents, while no amount was received by them on behalf of the petitioners.
Rizvi alleged that Rasool with the support of some bank officials in Islamabad opened fake accounts in the name of fake partnerships without observing the State Bank of Pakistan’s instructions for opening a new account. He said the matter was brought to the notice of the prime minister, who directed his principal secretary to write to the Interior secretary to enquire into the matter. He said the enquiry found Rasool guilty, and a first information report (FIR) was registered against him, his brother and other accomplices, including bank officials.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the PM’s House said that Rasool had never served as media coordinator to the PM. “Rasool was rather Media Coordinator Northern Pakistan at the Pakistan Television Corporation Limited,” he added.