LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday summoned PML-N’s Punjab information secretary Azma Bukhari in the judge video scandal on Jan 28.

Interestingly, the FIA Counter Terrorism Wing, Islamabad, issued the notice dated 28-01-2010. Ms Bokhari said she could challenge it in the court because the judge’s video scandal surfaced in 2019 whereas the FIA had summoned her for Jan 28, 2010.

In the notice the FIA said: “Whereas the investigation proceedings on the above cited case are underway against the nominated accused persons as alleged by the complainant, Arshad Malik, district and sessions judge (OSD), ex-presiding officer Accountability Court Islamabad.”

It asked Ms Bokhari to appear before the investigation officers in this regard.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid and PML-N deputy secretary general Attaullah Tarar have already recorded their statements in the video scandal of Arshad Malik who convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case.

PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz in July last released the purported video of judge Malik claiming that he (judge) confessed he had been “pressurised and blackmailed” to convict Nawaz Sharif (in the Al-Azizia reference). She had said that the video was made by a ‘PML-N sympathiser’.

Earlier, the FIA had arrested three suspects — Nasir Janjua, Maher Ghulam Jilani and Khurram Yousaf — in connection with the judge’s ‘immoral video’.

However, in early September last a civil judge had ordered their release on the FIA request for “the discharge of the accused” for being innocent.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2020