ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved its decision regarding Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) former chairman Zafar Hijazi’s plea seeking to quash the FIR filed against him in the record tampering case.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted a forensics report before the court of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani while Hijazi’s lawyer presented written arguments and asked to quash the case. After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Kayani reserved the decision.
An FIA special court had framed charges against Hijazi for allegedly tampering with the records of Chaudhry Sugar Mills which is owned by the Sharif family.
Hijazi had petitioned the IHC against the FIA special court’s dismissal of his acquittal plea and indictment, reasoning that the special court had disregarded the evidence presented in the appeal. He has requested the IHC to declare the decision of the special court null and void.
In October 2017, the FIA special court had indicted the former SECP chief in a record tampering case pertaining to Chaudhry Sugar Mills. According to the charge sheet, Hijazi had coerced his subordinates to change dates on documents related to the sugar mills.
An FIA inquiry team had found Hijazi guilty of tampering the records of companies owned by the Sharif family. The team had submitted a 28-page inquiry report to the Supreme Court on July 9, in which it endorsed the stance of the JIT probing the offshore assets of the ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in connection with the Panama Papers case.
