Court approves four-day physical remand of SECP chief

ISLAMABAD: Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Shabir on Saturday approved a four-day physical remand of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafar Hijazi. 

The judge ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to present the SECP chief in court on July 26. 

Hijazi was diagnosed with a kidney infection on Saturday soon after he was arrested by the FIA on Friday after Special Judge Central Tahir Mehmood cancelled his bail.

The result of Hijazi's heart exercise tolerance test (ETT) test was positive, however, he was shifted to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) for treatment of his kidney infection, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital vice chancellor said.

Another round of medical tests will be conducted after 24-hours.

The government on Friday decided to appoint SECP senior commissioner Tahir Mehmood as the acting chairman of the regulatory body, sources said.

Earlier on July 17, a lower court granted a five-day pre-arrest bail to Hijazi against two surety bonds worth Rs250,000 each after the SECP chief filed for a pre-arrest bail as per Section 498 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan, citing medical grounds as the basis for the request.

An FIA inquiry team had found Hijazi guilty of tampering the records of companies owned by the Sharif family and recommended registering a First Information Report (FIR) against him.

The team submitted a 28-page inquiry report to the Supreme Court (SC) on July 9, in which it endorsed the stance of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the offshore assets of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in connection with the Panamagate case.

Hijazi's lawyer had argued in court that SECP staffers did not tamper records of Chaudhry Sugar Mills under duress.