Rawalpindi - A customs, taxation and anti-smuggling court yesterday dismissed the petition of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for fresh probe against model Ayyan Ali on charges of money laundering.
Earlier, the court had reserved its verdict on the FBR’s plea on March 24 after both side completed their arguments.
The FBR in its application filed through prosecutor Muhammad Amin Feroz had maintained that the department wanted to initiate fresh investigation against Ayyan Ali under charges of money laundering. Earlier Pakistan customs had investigated the model on the charges of money smuggling.
Opposing the FBR’s plea, Advocate Khurram Latif Khosa, representing Ayyan Ali, said that the department had no authority to investigate the model under charges of money laundering. The defence lawyer had argued that interior ministry amended the money laundering laws through an office order on April 1, 2015. The lawyer said that the ministry amended the law to investigate Ayyan Ali only.
The defence lawyer had maintained that Pakistan Customs booked Ayyan Ali on March 14, 2015 on charges of currency smuggling and at that time no amendment was made in the law. The FBR approached the court for permission to investigate Ayyan under charges of money laundering after amending the law, the lawyer noted.
“If any crime takes place before the amendment, the accused cannot be tried or grilled under the amended law,” maintained the defence lawyer.
Ayyan’s lawyer had said that the investigators of Pakistan Customs grilled his client under currency smuggling charges and said in the final investigation report, submitted before the trial court, that the money taken into custody belonged to Ayyan Ali.
Prosecutor Muhammad Amin Feroz has apprised the court that the FBR had maintained that the department wanted to initiate afresh investigation against Ayyan under charges of money laundering.