Bajwa data leak: Islamabad court approves two-day physical remand of Bol News journalist Shahid Aslam.

A local court in Islamabad on Saturday approved a two-day physical remand of Bol News journalist Shahid Aslam, who was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from Lahore earlier in the day for his alleged part in leaking personal tax data of former army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

A report by investigative news website FactFocus - which describes itself as a 'Pakistan-based digital media news organisation working on data-based investigative news stories - had in November published a report, accusing the army chief and his family of amassing assets worth Rs12.7 billion over the past six years.

The report cited tax records and wealth statements of the Bajwa family to corroborate its claims about the alleged accumulation of assets by the family inside and outside Pakistan.

Taking a notice of the report, the finance minister had said that the leak was 'clearly violative of the complete confidentiality of tax information that the law provides'.

Aslam, who has been arrested in connection with the data leak, was presented before the court today. His counsel argued that the detention of his client was illegal, saying that there was no proof that Aslam 'received any [leaked] information and had then passed it on to someone else'.

He urged the FIA to provide proof to support its claim to the court, adding that neither of the four sections in the FIR was valid and that his client could not be arrested just on the basis of suspicion.

It is pertinent to mention that Dawn.com was unable to acquire a copy of the FIR till the filing of this story.

Subsequently, the counsel prayed to the court for the dismissal of the case against his client.

To this, the prosecutor said the proof was in Aslam's mobile phone and laptop, which he was not providing to investigators. He claimed the journalist played a 'role of the facilitator' in the crime.

'Why was Shahid Aslam visiting the FBR? It was because he had to acquire information,' the prosecutor said, adding that if found guilty, Aslam...