KARACHI: The Lahore High Court Judge Tariq Saleem Sheikh has ordered the Director FIA Punjab-I Zone and the CEO, of PIA to file a report and parawise comments on the petition filed by Captain Kashan Aijaz Dodhy against DG FIA & others on the illegal freezing of personal bank accounts of PIA affected employees in connection with the fake degree scandal.

According to Nabeel Javed Kahloon, advocate, an FIR was registered against petitioners in lieu of the allegedly special audit of Pakistan International Airlines (PIACL) u/s. 420, 461, 471, 109 PPC at Police Station FIA/ ACC Lahore on 12-10-2022. The Assistant Director FIA/ ACC after registration of the FIR blocked the accounts of the petitioners illegally and unlawfully through the impugned letter dated 18-04-22. The petitioners came to know about the registration of an FIR against them, and they surrendered themselves before the court of Additional District Judge Lahore (FIA) on 25-11-22.

The petitioners filed pre-arrest along with ad-interim pre-arrest bail before the trial court, whereas the trial court allowed ad-interim to the petitioners and the next date in ad-interim pre-arrest bail was 03-01-23. The petitioners approached the Assistant Director FIA/ ACC for recording their statement and requested, again and again, to de-seal the accounts of the petitioners as they had surrendered before the trial court, but the Assistant Director FIA/ ACC refused to de-seal the accounts of the petitioners till to date.

The petitioners’ bank accounts have been sealed by the chairman of the State Bank of Pakistan against the impugned letter issued by the Assistant Director FIA, whereas his letter was in violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioners. The petitioners are unable to survive and pass their days due to the sealing of the bank accounts. They are unable to bear the expenses of daily affairs of life and the life of the petitioners has been badly affected by the impugned letter of the Assistant Director FIA. 

Nabeel Javed Kahloon quoted that there is a number of judgments by the apex court of Pakistan that have settled that, rights granted under Article 8 & 9 of the constitution of Pakistan 1973 shall be fully protected at every cost. Hence, it is the most important duty of the state to protect the fundamental right of the petitioners.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 13 2023

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