KARACHI: In what appears to be another twist in the tale, the former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Bashir Memon, has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan did not mention Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s name during a meeting with him.

Appearing on Hum News’ talk show called Breaking Point with Malick on Saturday night, Mr Memon said he had met the prime minister for just two to three minutes during which “no particular case was discussed”, dawn.com reported on Sunday.

When the show’s host, Mohammad Malick, asked the former FIA chief whether or not Prime Minister Khan had taken Justice Isa’s name during the meeting, Mr Memon replied in the negative. He, however, remained firm on the names of other government officials who he claimed had pressed him to initiate a case against the Supreme Court judge, said the dawn.com report.

Ex-FIA head insists that two cabinet members pressured him to initiate case against the judge; Fawad slams the TV interview

His comments came days after he alleged that he was pressured by Mr Khan, Law Minister Farogh Naseem and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar to initiate a case against Justice Isa — allegations that were denied swiftly by government officials.

Talking to Geo News, the former FIA chief had said he was first called to the Prime Minister’s Office where the premier told him he was “a very good officer” and to “show courage”.

He said he was taken later to Shahzad Akbar’s office, where it was revealed he was to proceed against Justice Isa. He also allegedly visited the law minister’s office. “Naseem was also convinced that a case should be made against Justice Isa and asked me to play a role.”

Mr Memon said he tried to explain this was not possible as Justice Isa was a sitting Supreme Court judge. “This is the job of the Supreme Judicial Council as it has the constitutional authority. It does not fall within the FIA’s terms of reference.”

He claimed the cabinet members still tried to persuade him to go ahead with investigations against the judge.

Sharing a video clip of Memon’s interview on Hum News on Twitter, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said: “Level allegations at the prime minister, make headlines and then easily take a U-turn later. If you say [something] to media channels, then media freedom is in danger. If you ask the guest, [then there is a slogan of] political revenge. This needs to end.”

In the talk show, Mr Memon said he favoured the formation of a judicial commission to look into the matter. “If I’m a liar, that will be proved and if I’m honest that will be proved.”

The former director general of FIA said the meetings were a matter of record. “No man can go just like that to the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister’s House or anywhere. My staff knew why I was going [there] too. The record must be present somewhere. It is not a matter of such great worry.”

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2021