Gen Bajwa tax data leak: Journalist sent to lock-up for two days

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court Saturday granted two-day physical remand of a journalist allegedly involved in the leak of tax information of former Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa's family.

Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir announced the reserved verdict and handed over the journalist to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). During the hearing, the prosecutor said that Shahid Aslam had been arrested by the agency on Friday. He added the suspect was allegedly getting information from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). “Evidence shows he was leaking information,” the prosecutor added.

However, the accused denied all charges against him, saying that there was no evidence against him as he had done nothing wrong. He said he had been covering the FBR for a long time. “I am a journalist and I know my professional duties,” he added.

The prosecutor questioned why he was not providing the password of his laptop. The judge remarked that it was not wrong to get information as a journalist. The prosecutor said suspects involved in leaking the FBR information had repeatedly named him.

In response, his counsel said the court should determine whether he had been arrested through a proper procedure or not. “Can statements of suspects arrested earlier in connection with the leak are authentic,” the counsel questioned. He said that it was not right to arrest the journalist on the basis of mere statements from suspects, adding that he had been under arrest for the last 24 hours. The lawyer asked the court to discharge the case. However, after hearing arguments from both sides, the judge remanded the journalist.