Dar takes notice of 'illegal, unwarranted' leak of COAS Bajwa's family's tax records.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday took notice of the "illegal and unwarranted" leak of the tax records of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa's family members.

"This is clearly violative of the complete confidentiality of tax information that the law provides," a statement issued by the finance ministry stated, a day after a report by investigative news website FactFocus, which allegedly cited tax returns and wealth statements, claimed that the COAS' family had amassed billions of rupees in the last six years.

"In view of this serious lapse on the part of to-date unknown functionaries, the finance minister has directed the special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha to personally lead an immediate investigation into the violation of tax law[s] and breach of Federal Board of Revnue (FBR) data, affix responsibility and submit a report within 24 hours," the handout said.

FactFocus describes itself as a "Pakistan-based digital media news organisation working on data-based investigative news stories".

The website has previously published in-depth stories on the "misappropriation of funds" by a number of politicians and other powerful sectors in Pakistan, including PTI chairman Imran Khan and former dictator General Pervez Musharraf.

In 2020, the publication had released a report regarding the alleged offshore properties and businesses of former China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority chairman Lt-Gen retired Asim Saleem Bajwa and his family.

Last year, the website had claimed to have obtained audio of former chief justice Saqib Nisar giving orders to convict former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

According to the FactFocus...