Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A divisional bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the order of Islamabad High Court and rejected the bail plea of Moazzam Ali, the alleged facilitator of Dr. Imran Farooq murder. The top court ruled that it would not consider intervening into the matter as the prosecution had submitted an interim challan in the trial court.

Moazzam Ali, currently confined in Adyala Jail, is accused of conspiracy and murder of Mutahidda Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) leader Dr. Imran Farooq. The federal government in April last year had ordered his detention along with two other accused, namely Khalid Shamim and Syed Mohsin Ali, and constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) mandating it to investigate the role of the three suspects of a crime committed in United Kingdom.

Moving a criminal petition under Article 185 (3) in Supreme Court, Moazzam Ali had challenged the orders of IHC stating that the high court had failed to apply judiciousness while deciding his case as the superior court failed to appreciate that Moazzam was arrested well before the registration of the FIR.

Advocate Mansoor Afridi, counsel for accused, appeared before a two-judge bench comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood. Mansoor Afridi argued that the court must examine the legal status of FIR, adding prosecution produced evidences wherein his client was accused of conspiracy in Farooq’s murder but such allegation had not been proved by the record.

The counsel contended that the high court had legitimised the illegal confinement and his client was being victimized because of political rivalry. Mansoor Afridi, the counsel for petitioner, contended that a superior court could not extend the time of investigation for an unlimited period, and a criminal case could not be registered while ignoring the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC).

Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mehmood in his arguments told the court that Moazzam Ali had opened bank accounts and facilitated the other two alleged assassins for admission in London School of Management. He further said that the telephonic contacts were proved among the three accused persons.

During the course of hearing, counsel for Federal Investigation Agency told the bench that Moazzam Ali had been an active member of MQM and resided in Nine Zero, the main hub of party. He further said that the petitioner was very ‘near and dear’ to the party chief Iltaf Hussain. At this, Moazzam’s counsel Mansoor Afridi told the court that around 25 criminal cases of different nature were registered against Dr. Imran Farooq after which he traveled illegally to UK and sought political asylum. He said that head money of Dr. Imran Farooq was rupees 3 Million. The top court, however, upheld the orders of IHC dated June 13, 2016 and rejected bail plea of Moazzam Ali.