Anchorperson Dr Shahid Masood submitted a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday to seek bail in a case regarding embezzlement of Rs38 million during his tenure as the managing director and chairman of Pakistan Television (PTV).
Masood, in his petition, stated that he was being targeted for his criticism of the government institutions. “My blunt analysis has always made me a target of governmental institutions,” he stated. Masood further added that the case had been shut down by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the past and then reopened in 2015. “Suspects Kashif Rabbani, Fawad Shabbir and Roshan Gilani are all facing trial and have also started paying back the embezzled amount,” he added.
Masood accused the investigative agency of harassing him and claimed that it had failed to come up with any evidence against him. “They used my inability to leave the country as a means to obtain arrest warrants for me,” he further stated.
The anchorperson was arrested from the court by FIA on December 23, 2018, after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed his petition. Masood, in his petition to the apex court, added that IHC had rejected his bail without paying any heed to the facts of the case as his name was not included in the first investigation report (FIR) of the case.
Masood is accused of involvement in the embezzlement of Rs37 million in acquiring Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media rights in 2008 during his tenure as the managing editor and chairman of the state-run broadcaster. Reportedly, the agreement was carried out with a fake company — M/s International Sports Solution (ISS) and the investigators claim that funds were also released, causing the loss of millions of dollars to PTV as the state-run broadcaster failed to acquire PCB media rights from 2008 to 2013.