ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) challenging recent actions against its leaders in a prohibited funding case, but refused to issue stay orders on the same.
The PTI on Saturday had moved to the IHC, seeking to restrain it from conducting raids and arresting party leaders. the FIA, it may be added here, had raided and arrested at least two prominent PTI leaders, Hamid Zaman and Senator Saifullah Niazi from Lahore and Islamabad respectively.
Hearing the petition, Justice Amir Farooq of the Islamabad High Court ordered the FIA to adopt measures as per law, and club this petition with the one already fixed for hearing on October 19.
The petition, filed by the PTI, accused the FIA of harassing party leaders and members on political grounds, and termed the raids and arrests as unlawful, seeking IHC’s intervention to restrain the agency from its current course of action.
PTI’s petition reads, “The impugned inquiry is beyond the jurisdiction as no wrongdoing bet alone ‘illegality’ is apparent on the face of the record, It has been initiated with mala fide intention, ln bad faith, out of personal motives to hurt the petitioners and harass the donors of the petitioner, and to support or benefit the political opponents of the petitioners.”
It claimed that the donors of the party are “overseas Pakistanis” and their details have been submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan in accordance with the law
The hearing was later adjourned until October 19.
