The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is once again under the radar of Supreme Court for allegedly harassing former secretary establishment Ismail Qureshi. The apex court on Friday issued notice to the agency over the latter's complaint. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of Hajj corruption case.
The chief justice remarked that FIA should not take the plea that court's orders against harassment of Qureshi would lead to hamper the investigation into Hajj scam. Hussain Asghar, an investigating officer probing Hajj corruption case, told the court that an FIR was registered against Ismail Qureshi for illegal appointment of Zain Sukhaira.
The officer further submitted to the court that the appointment of former Director General (DG) Hajj Rao Shakeel was illegal as he did not fulfil the required criteria. Wasim Sajjad, the counsel for Ismail Qureshi, told the bench that during the appointment of DG Hajj, the then secretary establishment had sent three names to the Prime Minister and one of those three names was selected by the prime minister, "which negates the plea of the FIA".
He further submitted to the court that the premier was the final authority in such appointments, and a secretary had nothing to do; hence, Rao was not elevated to the lucrative slot of DG Hajj by his client (Qureshi) as it was the discretion of prime minister. The hearing was adjourned till March 20.
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