ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered FIA Director General Mohammad Anwar Virk on Tuesday to appear before it and explain why an officer facing contempt charges had been entrusted with the task of investigating the multi-billion-rupee National Insurance Company scam.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, which had taken up the NICL scam case, was visibly disturbed when it was informed that FIA’s Lahore Director Waqar Haider was still attached with the investigation.

The chief justice was irked by the presence in the court of Waqar Haider as he is facing contempt charges for stopping a former investigation officer of the case, Zaffar Qureshi, from entering his Lahore office.

The NICL case attracted a lot of attention when big names like Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim also surfaced.

The court asked Muneer Paracha, counsel for the FIA, why Amin Qasim Dada had not been arrested and Mohsin Warraich was still at large. Both are accused in the NICL case.

The court was informed that Rs2.12 billion out of the Rs2.6 billion embezzled amount had been recovered and Qasim Dada would soon return to Pakistan voluntarily. The chief justice observed that it appeared the FIA was “working on the basis of probability”.

Commerce Secretary Munir Qureshi informed the court that five properties involved in the corruption had been attached.

The court ordered the secretary to submit a report by March 11 on measures taken to arrest the absconding accused in the case.

“Everything has been reduced to a farce,” observed Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, a member of the bench. He said the prosecution was working on chance and waiting for the accused to return to the county.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed said the money trail led to PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim but the FIA, except for recovering the money, did nothing to take any action.

Muneer Paracha informed the court that five different criminal cases had been registered and red warrants issued for arrest of the absconding accused, including four directors of the NICL.