FIA granted three-day custody of accused in APPC mega corruption case

ISLAMABAD, Jul 31 (APP): A lower court on Wednesday granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a three-day physical remand of three accused in a major corruption case involving the Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation (APPC), the state-run news organization.
The Anti-Corruption Wing of the FIA presented the three accused—Ghawas Khan, former Project Director at APPC; Musawar Imran, former Deputy Director; and Saad Muddasar, former Chief Computer Engineer—before Civil Judge Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Abbas Shah.
At the beginning of the hearing, the FIA’s investigation officer explained that the accused were arrested following the dismissal of their interim bail petitions by the high court. The officer requested a fourteen-day physical remand to facilitate the recovery of records and funds.
In response, APPC’s counsel, Sardar Yaqoob Mastoi Advocate, argued that the accused, all members of the procurement committee, had submitted 60 cheques to the AGPR with forged signatures. He alleged that Rs124 million, public money, was embezzled through these fraudulent activities and urged the court to grant the FIA’s request for physical remand to recover the stolen funds.
Defense attorneys opposed the request, contending that the case dated back to 2022, involving a total of 11 accused. They noted that their clients had been on interim bail for four months and had cooperated with the investigation. They requested the court to deny the physical remand.
After considering the arguments, the court approved a three-day physical remand of the accused.
It is pertinent to mention that Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri had dismissed the interim bail petitions of the accused the previous day, leading to their arrest by the FIA outside the courtroom.
APPC’s legal advisor, Sardar Yaqoob Mastoi, informed the high court that the accused had attempted to evade arrest despite the lower court’s termination of their bail. He alleged that the accused had inflicted significant financial loss on the state-run news agency through their corrupt actions.
The FIA has filed a corruption case against the accused, which includes Ghawas Khan, Musawar Imran, Saad Muddasar, Bilal Zafar (former Deputy Director of the Cyber Wing, Ministry of Information), Arshad Majeed Chaudhry (former Manager Accounts, APPC), Ziaullah Bhutto (former Director Admin & P&D), and officials from several companies including M/s Tejaria Pakistan Private Limited, M/s New Horizon, M/s Arrtek System, M/s Commtel, and M/s Media Links. The charges include Sections 34, 409, 420, 468, and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 5(2)47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
The accused are alleged to have conspired as members of the procurement committee to unlawfully award a contract worth Rs113 million without the required approval from the APPC Managing Director, violating PPRA rules. The FIR also accuses them of falsifying minutes of the 8th meeting in collusion with one another.