Journalist Shahid Aslam allegedly involved in General (retd) Bajwa’s tax data leak sent on two-day physical remand
ISLAMABAD, Jan 14 (SABAH): A district and sessions court on Saturday granted the physical remand of Shahid Aslam — the suspect allegedly involved in the “illegal and unwarranted” leakage of tax information of former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s family members — for two days.
Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir announced the verdict — reserved a while back — and handed over the journalist to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
During the hearing, the prosecutor said that Shahid Aslam was arrested by the agency on Friday. He added that the suspect was allegedly getting information from the Federal Board of Revenue of Pakistan (FBR).
“There is evidence against Shahid Aslam which shows that the suspect was leaking information,” said the prosecutor.
Meanwhile, the suspect denied all the charges against him, saying that there was no evidence against him as he has done nothing wrong.
In response, Shahid Aslam said that he has been covering FBR stories for a long time. “I am a journalist and I know my professional duties,” he added.
The prosecutor questioned why Aslam was not providing the password for his laptop. The judge remarked that it was not wrong to get information as a journalist.
At this, the prosecutor said that the suspects involved in leaking FBR information have repeatedly named Aslam. In response, Aslam’s counsel said the court should determine whether Aslam was arrested through a proper procedure or not.
“Can the statements provided by the suspects — arrested earlier in connection with the leak — be authentic?” questioned the counsel.
He said that it was not right to arrest Aslam on the basis of the mere statements from suspects, adding that he has been under arrest by the FIA for the last 24 hours.
The lawyer asked the court to discharge the case against the journalist.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge then sent the journalist on a two-day physical remand.