It has been reported that former prime minister Imran Khan’s advisor on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, ordered the FIA to help Zahoor’s former wife Sophia Mirza by lodging several FIRs against him, which converted a domestic family dispute into a criminal matter. Zahoor and his ex-wife are currently at odds over the custody of their twin daughters.
In its detailed order, the LHC observed that the warrants against Farooq were issued despite the fact that no summons or notices had been issued to him by the magistrate at the foreign address in Dubai where he was residing at that time. Related provisions of law required that he be issued the summons and notices before the warrants could be served or executed. The court also observed the contention of the law officer that Farooq had left the country well in advance of the registration of the criminal case against him by FIA.
Meanwhile, it was also highlighted in the court that the said warrants were issued by the concerned magistrate in haste and without duly fulfilling the requisite criteria.
The LHC order noted the contentions of the counsel for Zahoor: that this was a family matter and was converted into criminal proceedings due to pressure exerted by the persons at the helm of the affairs at the relevant time, and that since his client is ambassador-at-large of Liberia, no legal or penal action could be taken against him without ensuring its service through the embassy of Liberia in the relevant jurisdiction.
Interestingly, it is on the basis of these warrants that the FIA had procured red notices from Interpol against Zahoor.
In an earlier petition filed by Zahoor before the LHC, the court had suspended the operation of the placement of the businessman s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) and issuance of red notices against him, due to the immunity he enjoys — courtesy of his status as the ambassador-at-large of Liberia.
Later, the Supreme Court (SC) reversed this order only to the extent of ECL. However, the FIA had been dithering upon removing the name of Zahoor from the red list, despite the clear directions of the LHC in a contempt petition filed by Zahoor. It was also reported that the FIA wrote to Interpol in order to obtain Interpol red notices against Zahoor; this was done by hiding key facts of the case from Interpol.
Model Sophia Mirza has been involved in a custody dispute with her ex-husband Umar Farooq Zahoor for nearly 14 years now. The SC has conducted nearly 100 hearings in the case. The couple’s twin daughters, Zainab and Zuneirah, who are both 15, live in Dubai with their father and have said in interviews they are happy living in Dubai. Mirza, however, said she would continue her fight until she gets custody of the twins.
Zahoor has maintained that he was "politically victimised" by the FIA on behalf of his former wife, who used her connections through Akbar to harangue him on false allegations of corruption — including in cases which had been closed in foreign jurisdictions.