Islamabad

The Pakistan government has launched a probe against a journalist who leaked explosive tax records of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa's family members, who were said to have accumulated disproportionate wealth in the past six years.

Advertisment

Country’s finance minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar’s office in a statement said that he has taken note of the “illegal and unwarranted leakage of tax information”, deeming it to be violative of the confidentiality of tax information that the law provides.

“In view of this serious lapse on the part of to-date unknown functionaries, the finance minister has directed the SAPM on Revenue Mr. Tariq Mehmood Pasha to personally lead an immediate investigation into the violation of tax law and breach of FBR data, affix responsibility and submit a report within twenty-four hours,” the notice issued by the finance ministry stated.

The move comes in response to the report on FactFocus website which claimed that Bajwa’s immediate and extended family members accumulated wealth to the tune of 12.7 Pakistani rupee since he took command of the military post in 2016.

Advertisment

Who will be Pakistan's next Army chief? The process for the appointment begins

The report by Pakistan-based journalist Ahmad Noorani, who has cited tax records filed by Bajwa, claimed that Bajwa's wife transferred funds overseas, and made investments in the oil business and real estate, even though she was not an income tax filer until her husband's appointment to the office of the chief of army staff.

Advertisment

The journalist further noted that Bajwa revised his wealth statement of 2013 after being appointed as the country’s army chief.

"In the revised wealth statement for the year 2013, General Bajwa added a commercial plot in phase VIII of DHA Lahore. He claimed that in fact he had purchased this plot back in 2013 but forgot to declare. He would continue to forget for the next four years and could only remember his omissions in 2017, one year after becoming army chief," he wrote in Fact Focus.

FactFocus blocked

Following the publication of the report, the Pakistani authorities have blocked access to the online portal.

The author of the report is a Pakistani journalist, Ahmad Noorani, who lives in the United States.

He also published the alleged wealth statements of Bajwa and his family from 2013 to 2021.

Also read | Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan summoned to appear before court in Toshakhana reference case

The FactFocus website describes itself as a data-based investigative journalist platform. It has previously also published stories alleging corrupt practices of Pakistani officials and politicians while in power.

Also read | Pakistan Army chief appointment process to start today: Report

Bajwa will be retiring on November 29 and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's coalition government on Monday said that it was in the process of appointing the new military chief, possibly by the end of this week.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: