What could be described as a ‘significant’ decision, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday decreed that filing a money laundering case against a person merely on the basis of non-declaration of assets was ‘illegal’.
Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah remarked that for that, it would have to be proved that a person had made his ‘undeclared assets’ from the proceeds of the money laundered. “The Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict serves as a precedent in the case,” he reminded.
The court, in its decision, said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in this particular case, had failed to satisfy that concealment of assets merited filing a money laundering case against Altaf Ahmad Gondal, a businessman from Rawalpindi.
Adnan Randhawa Advocate represented Gondal, the petitioner, in the case. While reading out the verdict, Justice Minallah said that the objective of the Act of 2010 was to stop money laundering in order to choke funding of terrorists. “Section 4 of the Act declares money laundering a cognizable offence,” the CJ elaborated.
