Judge’s video scandal: Case transferred into ATC

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The case of former accountability judge Arshad Malik’s regarding video scandal has been transferred into anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday. The judge’s controversial video case took another turn when a cybercrimes court ordered the transfer of case into ATC for further proceedings. The suspects have been identified as Hamza Arif Butt and Faisal Shaheen. During the hearing, suspects’ defense counsel pleaded with the court to reject transfer of the case to the ATC as terrorism clauses were inapplicable to the case. To reply, the judge remarked that section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) had already been included in the case and therefore it needed to be transferred to the ATC. On the other hands, the ATC approved 7-day physical remand of Hamza Arif Butt and Faisal Shaheen. The LHC has made Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik, who was involved in a video scandal, as officer on special duty (OSD). A notification in this regard was issued by the registrar on the orders of the LHC chief justice. Magistrate Saqib Jawad acquitted all the three accused in the judge video scandal case on Saturday. Earlier, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had cleared the three accused of charges and submitted the report to court. According to the investigation report, no evidence was found against Nasir Janjua, Khurram Yousaf and Ghulam Jillani and hence they have been discharged. On August 20, the Supreme Court had ordered to repatriate Judge Arshad Malik to the Lahore High Court immediately. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that Judge Arshad’s video in Multan had been confirmed. “Why has the federal government stopped Judge Arshad Malik in the capital? Hundreds of honest judges are ashamed of the character of this judge,” he remarked. He said that remarked that Judge Arshad’s video in Multan had been confirmed. Expressing indignation at the FIA, Justice Azmat Saeed said that the FIA had not get the forensic done of the video yet about whom the entire country is questioning. “If Nasir Butt’s record and original video is unavailable, the FIA should have done the forensic of the cam video,” he remarked.