LAHORE, July 29: The Federal Investigation Agency has no immediate plans to lay hands on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s favourite officer, Dr Tauqeer Shah, and others for allegedly preparing a fake intelligence report about a plot to murder former LHC chief justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif.
“Right now we have no orders to proceed against the accused in the fake intelligence report case,” an FIA official told Dawn on Sunday.
When asked about the need to register the case against six persons involved in the ‘conspiracy’ one and a half years after completion of the FIA inquiry and judicial probe into the matter, he said: “It was a sensitive matter and, without a nod from the high command, we could not register a case at that time.”
However, a source in the agency said the motive to register the case after a considerable delay appeared to be political. “Had it not been so, we would have been given a go-ahead to proceed against them without any further delay,” he said.
Chief minister’s secretary Tauqeer Shah, former chief of Punjab Special Branch Col (retd) Ehsanur Rehman and its official Shahid Mahmood, PML-N activist Talha Burki and two officials of the Crime Investigation Department have been booked for producing a ‘false and fabricated’ intelligence report to malign some PPP personalities and create differences between the federal and provincial governments and the judiciary.
PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid also questioned the timing of the development and said opening of cases against the Sharif family and this case were part of a ‘blackmailing move’ to achieve political objectives. Replying to a question about posting of Dr Tauqeer, he said the Punjab government had implemented all the recommendations of the judicial commission.
Former FIA additional director general Zafar Qureshi had carried out an inquiry into the alleged murder plot and declared Dr Tauqeer, Col Ehsan and Mr Mahmood guilty of preparing the fabricated intelligence report.
When asked about the report, Senator Rashid said the provincial government had followed the judicial commission’s recommendations in this regard.
The fake special branch report of Aug 2, 2010, had accused a federal government nominee in Punjab (Salman Taseer), a federal minister (Babar Awan) and a Punjab PPP office-bearer (Dr Fakhruddin) of hatching the plot to assassinate the-then chief justice of the Lahore High Court.