RAWALPINDI, Dec 31: A special court here on Wednesday acquitted a former federal minister in an immigration-related fraud case due to insufficient evidence against him.

Special Judge Central Shaukat Ali Sajid absolved the former state minister for minorities, Mushtaq Victor, in a case of allegedly sending people abroad on fake documents after he moved an application under section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking acquittal in the case.

After hearing arguments of both sides, the court, in its decision, observed that there was not enough evidence against the accused and there was no complainant in the case other than the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The FIA registered a criminal case against the former minister under sections 17, 18 and 22 of the immigration act and section 420, 468 and 471 of Pakistan Penal Code in February after a complaint was received from the Norwegian embassy in August 2006 that the minister, using his recommendation letters, sent 18 men and three women to Europe and Canada showing them as his wives and children.

Mushtaq Victor, in his acquittal application through Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi advocate, had maintained that no incriminating record had been submitted against him. The former minister said nobody had submitted any complaint against him.

Mushtaq Victor was arrested in April 2008 and the court granted him bail in May. The FIA had submitted eight different charge-sheets against him after completing their investigations though only one FIR was registered against the former minister.