ISLAMABAD, July 4: Fayyaz Leghari, the director general of Federal Investigation Agency, found himself in hot water on Wednesday when the Supreme Court asked one of its senior officers to book him for wrongly arraigning a PPP member of the Punjab Assembly for having dual nationality.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ordered the additional registrar to lodge a criminal complaint against the FIA chief and other officers for providing misleading information that Tariq Mahmood Alloana, an MPA from Mandi Bahauddin, was a US citizen.

Islamabad police chief Bani Amin is required to supervise investigation into the matter and submit weekly reports to the Supreme Court registrar for perusal by judges.

“False and fabricated material was placed on record which warranted action under the relevant laws,” observed the court hearing a case relating to parliamentarians having dual nationality.

“Prima facie an action was taken to misguide the court, knowing well about the importance of the case of public representatives performing their duties in provincial assemblies under the Constitution,” the court said, adding that every government functionary was bound to assist the court and not mislead it.

The chief justice also expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the FIA and said: “No inquiry pending with the FIA has ever seen the light of day.”

The court also issued notice to PM’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik on a petition moved by Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi who claimed that the appointment of Mr Malik as adviser soon after suspension of his Senate membership was illegal and contrary to the Constitution.

MQM LEGISLATORS: The court suspended the membership of two MQM legislators -- MNA Farhat Mahmood Khan and MPA Nadia Gabol -- because of their failure to refute allegations that they held dual citizenship despite repeated notices issued to them.

The allegations were levelled against the legislators in a petition filed by Advocate Waheed Anjum.

Farhat Mahmood held US passport and Nadia Gabol British passport, the bench said, adding that it appeared that they had acquired citizenship of these countries.

“Therefore, prima facie the bench is satisfied that both these members of assemblies suffered from disqualification under Article 63(1 c) and at par with other members whose memberships have already been suspended.

Both the legislators can raise objections in case they have not acquired the citizenship of other countries or submit replies after which an appropriate order could be passed,” the court said.

Meanwhile, at the request of PML-N MPAs Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chauhan and Chaudhry Nadeem Khadim, the court postponed similar proceedings against them for two weeks.

Dr Ashraf Chauhan is under treatment in the UK while Nadeem Khadim also is in Britain. The court asked them to engage counsel if need be.

During the proceedings, FIA’s Director Legal Muhammad Azam Khan apologised to the court over the mistaken identity of Tariq Alloana which led to the court’s embarrassment.

The deputy director who had signed the document relied on information retrieved from computer by an operator who only provided passport number, he said, adding that the information so collected by the FIA was about Tariq Mahmood Alloana, a resident of Chakwal. Thenames of the parents and even the date of birth of both the Alloanas were identical.

The court expressed dismay over the casual attitude of FIA officials and warned of lodging criminal cases against them for dereliction.