ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) agreed on Thursday to hear former Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman Zafar Hijazi’s petition against dismissal of his acquittal plea in a special court on charges of a record-tampering case related to Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
A case was registered against Hijazi on the orders of the Supreme Court after the three-member Panama Papers case implementation bench acted on the JIT report. Hijazi is accused of pressuring his subordinates to change dates on documents related to the sugar mills.
The former SECP chief in a petition filed earlier this month, stated that the special court in question ignored the evidence presented before it during the appeal and hoped that the IHC declares the former court’s decision null and void.
The court is set to hear Hijazi’s petition on December 20.
Earlier Zafar HIjazi had challenged the charges, and the court in question had dismissed his plea.
A three-member bench of Joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the SC was probing the Panama Papers case against the Sharif family’s assets where the former SECP chief was found guilty of tampering records in the sugar mills.
Following orders given by the Supreme Court, a case was registered against the former SECP chief.
The charge-sheet read that Hijazi had pressured his subordinates to change dates on documents related to the sugar mills.
Special Court Central Judge Irum Niazi rejected Hijazi’s application on the reasoning that solid pieces of evidence were available to initiate the trial.
Hijazi was taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on July 21 after a case was registered against him on the directives of Supreme Court (SC).