The Senate Standing Committee on Interior constituted a Sub-Committee on Thursday to probe the matter of conducting a raid by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Islamabad Police at the House of Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee in Islamabad on 13th September 2022. The Sub-committee is formed under the convenorship of Senator Kamil Ali Agha and Senators Faisal Saleem and Rana Maqbool as its members.
The Sub-committee will probe the matter keeping in view the following Term of references (TORs) as compiled by the Chairman Committee:
1. Was the website, on the basis of which raid was conducted, an undercover website?
2. Were the Policewomen accompanied the raiding party while carrying out the incursion at the house of Saifullah Khan Nyazee?
3. Was permission taken from the Chairman Senate before the raid at the house of Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee?
4. Whether did the police and FIA authorities had the search warrant at the time of the raid?
The Senate Standing Committee on Interior which was held here at Parliament House on Thursday was attended by Senators Azam Nazeer Tarar, Moula Bux Chandio, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Faisal Saleem Rehman, Shahadat Awan, Fawzia Arshad, Kamil Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti and Dilawar Khan while Senators Dr Shahzad Waseem, Azam Khan Swati, Shibli Faraz showed as special invitees. Minister of Interior Rana Sanaullah, Secretary Interior, DG FIA, Chief Commissioner Islamabad and IGP Islamabad were also in attendance.
At the outset, the Chairman Committee and members of the opposition benches were irked due to the non-presence of SP Imran Haider who issued a search warrant for carrying out the raid. They were of the view that Imran Haider is the relevant person to be questioned rather than listening to the rest of the high officials. We had issued summon to Imran Haider, but he did not appear before the committee. This is a question of respect for the parliament, Chairman Committee Mohsin Aziz stated, adding that the raid conducted at the House of Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee was against the law and rules of the Senate.
Leader of the opposition in the Senate Shahzad Waseem said that sanctity was not taken into account in the circumstances in which the raid against Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee was carried out. The way the raid was conducted, is this per the law? Because the Magistrate and the Policewomen were not accompanying the raiding party adding that the Chairman Senate was also not informed before the raid took place, he added.
DG FIA while briefing the committee on the matter said that High-profile inquiries are currently underway in the FIA, which also includes some politicians. No one was deflated by FIA nor we have even tried to set a bad example during these inquiries, they have only been asked to assist by handing and asking a few questions, DG FIA stated, adding that even If there is anyone who pressurizes me, I will not victimize anyone at any cost. He acknowledged that I granted the permission to seize the equipments during the search operation. He stressed that it was not a raid but a search operation being carried out after getting a search warrant. Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee assisted during the operation and he himself handed over the equipment to us, he underlined. Everything was done according to the Law. He reiterated that policewomen were present during the operation at Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee house but Senator Saifullah Khan Nyazee and Senator Fawzia Arshad denied this very statement of DG FIA and said that no women were present during the raid.
After discussing the matter at length the committee unanimously decided to form a sub-committee under the convenorship of Senator Kamil Ali Agha to further probe the matter.
Source: Senate of Pakistan