LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from taking coercive measures against its former director general Bashir Memon in multiple inquiries initiated against him.

Earlier, Memon personally appeared before the court along with his counsel Mian Ali Ashfaq. The counsel told the court that the agency initiated three inquiries against his client, including the one pertaining to “favouring” a suspect of money laundering and not launching a probe against ex-husband of model Sofia Mirza to recover her daughters.

He said the petitioner was not directly nominated in the inquiries, however, he joined the same even after getting pre-arrest bail. He said the FIA was also making more cases against the petitioner only on political consideration.

The counsel asked the court to restrain the FIA from taking coercive measures against the petitioner and also provide Mr Memon with the record of the inquiries being held against him.

Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq granted interim relief to Mr Memon and sought a reply from the FIA on the petition by Feb 3.

Mr Memon had accused Prime Minister of pressurising him to implicate members of the Sharif family, including Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of the ousted premier, Nawaz Sharif, in cases.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2022