ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency arrested Thursday former chairperson of Evacuee Trust Property Board, Asif Hashmi, on the directives of Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar over embezzlement charges.
Hashmi was arrested from the courtroom at Supreme Court, where he had appeared for a case related to embezzlement of around Rs1.5 billion in an ETPB deal.
A three-member bench of Supreme Court was dealing with the case that was initiated over the sale of ETPB land worth billions of rupees for peanuts – on which the then chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry, also took suo motu notice.
During a hearing on the case, the then CJP had observed that ETPB made an illegal agreement by closing their eyes and added that in accordance with the constitution and law the ETPB land could neither be sold nor can be exchanged with other land.
Hashmi left for Pakistan on February 10 from Dubai, where he was arrested in 2016. He is a leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, who served as the chairperson of ETPB between 2007 and 2013. After completing his tenure he left for Dubai in April 2016. INP
