ISLAMABAD: A special court in Islamabad on Monday granted five-day interim bail to Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafar Hijazi, who faces charges of tampering with the records of Sharif family’s companies.
The SECP chairman was granted interim pre-arrest bail until July 21 by Special Court Central, Islamabad. Earlier, Hijazi was granted a transitory bail till July 17 by the Islamabad High Court against surety bonds of Rs10,000. While granting the transitory bail till July 17, IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had advised the SECP head to approach the appropriate forum – the Special Court Central. The bail request was submitted by Hijazi’s counsel, Sheikh Zameer Hussain, who cited his 64-year-old client’s medical condition including a kidney transplant and diabetes mellitus type-2 that would make his detention injurious to his health. The joint investigation team (JIT) – probing into Sharif family’s offshore assets in line with the apex court’s April 20 verdict in Panamagae case – had earlier alleged that the SECP tampered with records of the sugar mills owned by the Sharif family. The Supreme Court’s three-judge special bench – overseeing implementation of the Panamagate verdict – had later directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe the allegation and Hijazi and some other senior SECP officers appeared in this connection before a four-member FIA team last week.
Published in Daily Times, July 18th, 2017.
