SHC grants protective bail to Hareem Shah in FIA money laundering inquiry

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday granted protective bail to TikTok star Hareem Shah in a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) inquiry pertaining to money laundering charges against her.

The TikTok star had approached the SHC for obtaining protective bail in connection with the FIA inquiry. The court had earlier turned down her plea seeking protection against the FIA inquiry observing that she had previously misused a court order and did not appear before the FIA despite an undertaking before the court.

The FIA had issued a notice to Hareem over her social media video in which she claimed clearing immigration to travel abroad with a large amount of foreign exchange without any check. The FIA had directed the TikTok star to appear before the investigation agency as her video defamed the country and acknowledged the offence of money laundering.

A counsel for the petitioner, who has more than 6.5 million followers on social media sites, submitted that she had already tendered an apology for the video clip on different electronic media channels.

He said the petitioner had earlier been granted a stay order by the court against the FIA proceedings but she could not travel to Pakistan due to her health issues. The counsel said the petitioner had now arrived in Pakistan and wanted to join the said inquiry. He requested the high court to grant protection to the applicant so that she could appear before the FIA in connection with the inquiry.

A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, without touching the merits of the case, granted protective bail to the applicant for seven days to enable her to appear before the FIA. The bench, however, made clear that in case the applicant failed to appear before the inquiry officer within the prescribed time, the surety furnished before the court shall be fortified.