ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday rejected the plea of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for stopping the trial in the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq and directed the investigation agency to approach the anti-terrorism court (ATC) if it wanted to seek time to obtain evidence from the United Kingdom where Mr Farooq was murdered in 2010.

An IHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb also directed the ATC to decide the case without being influenced by the deadline set by the high court.

The IHC had set October 2018 as deadline for the ATC to decide the Imran Farooq murder case.

The FIA sought time from the trial court to produce evidence which it was expecting to get from the UK under the mutual legal assistance (MLA) request.

Authorities in the UK, however, were reluctant to share any evidence with the FIA, expressing apprehensions that the Pakistan government might use this information to seek the death penalty for the suspects being tried in Pakistan, an official of the FIA told Dawn.

Special prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed argued before the IHC that the prosecution had laid the entire evidence before the trial court and it was waiting for the material evidence from the UK government.

He said the UK authorities did not respond to Pakistan’s request for the MLA, adding that the Pakistan government had taken up the matter with the UK government and the prosecution wanted the trial to be adjourned at least for three to four months.

He informed the court that the FIA might get the foreign evidence soon which would be produced before the trial court.

The court disposed of the FIA’s petition, advising the investigation agency to file an application in the ATC if it wanted to seek time to submit additional evidence from the foreign jurisdiction. It directed the trial court to decide the matter after going through the merit of the case and without any apprehension of time constraint.

Two suspects in the case — Khalid Shamim and Syed Mohsin Ali — have recorded their confessional statements before the magistrate, saying that Dr Farooq was killed because he was a “potent threat to the leadership of the MQM”. Another suspect, Moazzam Ali, has not yet recorded his confessional statement in the case.

Khalid has confessed that the murder of Dr Farooq was a ‘birthday gift’ for MQM founder Altaf Hussain, while Mohsin’s statement revealed that he took part in the crime because he was promised a position in the MQM’s London secretariat.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2019