KARACHI: A local court on Monday extended pre-arrest bail granted to a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmaker Moh­am­­mad Aslam Khan in a case pertaining to alleged tax evasion of over Rs28 million. The court directed him to cooperate in the investigation.

Mr Khan, who has been elected as member of the National Assembly constituency NA-254 (Karachi Central-II), Azizabad on a PTI ticket, was in 1997 booked in a case pertaining to alleged misdeclaration and evasion of duty and taxes.

Taking up his bail plea on Monday, the Customs court judge told the lawmaker to cooperate with the investigation officer, who was also directed to submit the investigation report till January 24, 2019. Till then, the judge extended Khan’s interim bail.

In September, the PTI legislator obtained protective bail from the Sindh High Court in the case and surrendered before the trial court, which had issued perpetual warrants for his arrest.

Customs had booked seven men, including Mohammad Azam and Hameed-ud-Din along with their five absconding accomplices Mohammad Aslam Khan alias Aslam Singapuri, Mohammad Saleem Khan, Sajjad, Asif, and Akhlaq Ahmed in 1997.

According to the prosecution, the suspects had smuggled electronics goods worth Rs28.57m in association with Pakistan Air Force personnel into Pakistan under the garb of defence stores of PAF from 1995 till 1997. They allegedly caused losses to the tune of Rs28.57m to the national exchequer.

The trial court indicted Mohammad Azam and Hameed-ud-Din along with their five absconding accomplices on Dec 14, 1997. However, the court later acquitted Azam and Hameed-ud-Din in the case by giving them the benefit of doubt, in August 2004.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2018