Record tampering: Zafar Hijazi sent to Adiala jail on judicial remand

ISLAMABAD - On Saturday, a court ordered to send the former head of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Zafar Hijazi to Adiala jail on a 14-day judicial remand on by turning down a plea for extending the Physical remand.

The Federal Investigation Agency presented the accused before the court following the expiry of physical remand and asked the court to grant further remand to complete interrogation.

The court expressed resentment over not completing interrogation during seven-day remand.

The FIA representative replied that Hijazi was in the hospital for two days during remand due to which the probe is incomplete.

After hearing the arguments, the court sent the accused to jail on judicial remand.

On Wednesday, the court extended the physical remand of Zafar Hijaz following the request of the FIA.

Earlier, he was remanded into the custody of the FIA on July 22 for four days.

On July 21, the FIA took Hijazi into custody after the court cancelled his bail in the record-tampering case.

A special judge central ordered to cancel the bail of the SECP chief, who had been granted bail for five days on July 17 by the same court.

Earlier, on July 13, Zafar Hijazi was granted a transit bail till Monday (July 17) by the IHC bench, headed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.

Hijazi has been under the radar ever since the six-member Joint Investigation Team disclosed before the supreme court that SECP was tampering with the record pertaining to Chaudhry Sugar Mills of ruling Sharif family.

On July 10, when the JIT submitted its final report, the supreme court ordered registration of criminal case against Zafar Hijazi.

Acting upon the apex court’s orders, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed the case with the Special Investigation Unit.

The criminal case was registered against the official under sections 466 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Section 466 lists a seven-year imprisonment and fine for those who forge a legal document, while section 471 punishes in the same manner for using as genuine a forged document, Geo News reported.