Daily Times

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday expressed his views on what he termed as “shocking attitude” of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the Asghar Khan case.

The minister took to Twitter and stated that the stance of the FIA on the matter was contrary to that of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

He said it would be very unfortunate if those involved were not punished. On Monday, the Supreme Court (SC) rejected the recommendation of the FIA to close the Asghar Khan case after the agency pointed at lack of evidence, and directed it to submit a detailed report within four weeks.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Azmat Saeed, presided over hearing of the case.

The bench remarked that the report submitted by the FIA was “incomplete” and contained only a summary, and not even statements of the witnesses. “Testimonies can be presented in an envelope, and if needed they will be disclosed,” the court remarked.

The defence pleaded the court to review the Defence Ministry’s response in the case, stating that Brig (r) Hamid Saeed had admitted that the funds were distributed. On this, Justice Saeed responded by saying that the matter would be considered afterwards.

Deputy Attorney General Khurram Saeed said that the recipients who had taken money were not admitting that they had received the amount. Justice Saeed stated that such an argument would not be accepted for closing the case. “Every accused in the custody of NAB refuses to confess to the crimes he/she had committed,” he said. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing for four weeks.