Daily Times

Justice Ali Zia Bajwa of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran khan, challenging a call-up notice, issued by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the foreign funding case. Justice Bajwa referred the petition to the LHC chief justice with a request for fixing it before another bench. The PTI chairman had filed the petition submitting that the FIA had launched an illegal inquiry into foreign funding case, and issued a call-up notice to him for appearance before an investigation team on Nov 7. He submitted that the impugned notice was not only unlawful but without jurisdiction. He pleaded with the court to quash the notice and also declare the FIA inquiry illegal and without lawful authority. In August 2022, the FIA launched an investigation against the PTI leadership after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared in its verdict that the party had, indeed, received illegal funding.