ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday finally broke his silence over the allegations levelled against him by former director general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon and termed all the claims as “baseless.”
“I had only directed Memon to investigate the iqama (work permit) case of PML-N’s Khawaja Asif,” the premier said. The prime minister made the statements while speaking during a meeting with senior journalists and anchorpersons in Islamabad.
“The decision to investigate the case of Khawaja Asif was also taken during a meeting of the federal cabinet,” the PM said, adding that he had directed Memon to investigate whether the country’s former foreign minister was holding a foreign resident permit and withdrawing a salary from foreign sources.
“All the claims made by Bashir Memon are baseless,” the premier said. “I have never directed him to initiate investigations or file any cases against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.”
The premier added, “Memon was not even authorised to file references [against a Supreme Court judge], so why would I ask him to do so in the first place?”
Responding to a question, the premier said that he had not even directed Memon to file any cases against opposition leaders Maryam Nawaz or anyone else from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) or the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
“I have never asked [the FIA] to file a terrorism case against Maryam Nawaz regarding the photograph of the first lady,” the premier maintained.
“Bashir Memon used to only brief me about the investigation the FIA’s joint investigation team was carrying out against the Omni Group,” PM Khan said.
A few days ago, Memon said that he was asked by the prime minister himself to file cases against Supreme Court judge Justice Isa and other opposition leaders during his tenure as the FIA’s director-general.
Memon had said that Federal Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem Naseem and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar had also wanted him to proceed against Justice Isa on money laundering charges.
Memon had maintained that he had refused to do so as “the FIA had no grounds to do so, especially since the matter pertained to a Supreme Court judge”.
Memon had said that he once had a meeting with the prime minister during which the premier lauded his services by saying that he is a “very good officer” and told him to pursue cases against the corrupt people.
