The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday termed the news story related to the withdrawal of cases against Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and his son Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Hamza Shehbaz and others as “fake news”.
In a statement, the FIA said that it had registered the case and it has not been withdrawn. The investigating agency further said that the proceedings are continuing in the court, with the next hearing scheduled for May 14.
“Hence, it is fake news. FIA may legally proceed against the persons involved in spreading this fake news,” said the FIA spokesperson.
The FIA said that on April 11, the prosecutor had submitted his opinion-based application in the court regarding a change of the prosecutor wherein he was instructed not to appear on behalf of the prosecution.
It added that the prosecutor had alleged that the director-general of the FIA, via the investigation officer, had asked him not to appear before the court, adding that “it was not a withdrawal application anyway”.
“On 11-04-2022, Mr Sanaullah Abbasi was the DG FIA. At the time of submission of the application, the new PM had not yet taken the oath. Tahir Rai was posted as DG FIA on 22-04-2022. This matter pertains to the timing before his arrival in FIA,” said the FIA.
The agency said that the “change of prosecutor is a routine matter” and added that the government lawyer was also changed several times during the PTI government.
“It is requested that fake news may not be spread in this matter,” said the FIA spokesperson.
On the last hearing, the FIA’s special court issued an order that it will indict PM Shehbaz and CM Punjab Hamza.
