The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday issued yet another notice to ex-finance minister and PTI leader Shaukat Tarin to appear before its Cyber Crime Wing’s (CCW) team of interrogators tomorrow for questioning in connection with the leak of his telephonic conversations with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab finance ministers when he refused to appear before the team, saying he had not received summons from the FIA as yet, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.  

In the latest notice, Tarin was asked to reach the FIA’s office in Islamabad at 11:00 AM on Thursday failing which action would be taken against him under section 174.    

Later talking to media, Tarin, who initially kept the FIA’s team of interrogators waiting for hours, said that he could not appear before them when he had only learnt from television that he had been summoned. 

He said he had asked the FIA to send him the notice. “I will definitely show up if I receive the notice,” he said, and questioned, “Why would I hesitate to appear when I have done nothing wrong? 

Former finance minister had allegedly exhorted the finance ministers of the two provinces to write letters to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) against the government, and that too at a time when the country was close to striking a deal with the money lending organisation.

Tarin and some other leaders of his party disputed contents of the telephonic talk, saying it was the handiwork of the PML-N’s media cell, which had pieced together excerpts from his speeches made on different occasions. 

They also questioned whether tapping people’s phone calls was legal.

Reporter: Tayyab Saif