The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday issued a notice to former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and instructed him to appear before the watchdog in person for an investigation into the audio clips attributed to him regarding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, a private TV channel reported. Last month, two audio clips surfaced via TV channels and social media in which a man said to be Tarin can be heard guiding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab’s finance ministers to tell the federal government and the IMF that they would not be able to commit to a provincial budget surplus in light of the recent floods that have wrought havoc in Pakistan.
The audios triggered criticism against the PTI as the ruling coalition alleged that they were nothing but a conspiracy to derail the state’s deal with the global lender. In a notice issued to Tarin, the FIA said that an inquiry has been initiated against him on the basis of an alleged audio call to Jhagra. “In it, you are provoking him to write a letter to the federal government on behalf of the KP government that it will not return extra money of the fiscal budget so that interruption may be created between IMF and the Government of Pakistan.”
The agency, subsequently, directed the former finance minister to appear in person to record a version/statement in his defence at the FIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre in Islamabad on September 21 at 10am. “In case of non-appearance, it will be assumed that you have nothing to present or state in your defense and procedure under Section 174 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, will be initiated against you,” the FIA added.
