The court was informed that Unity Foods Limited CEO Muhammad Farrukh Amin Godil had secured interim pre-arrest bail until Sept 14. However, the Sindh High Court (SHC) ruled that following the suspension of the magistrate’s order, any subsequent bail order in the case would have no legal effect.
On Aug 30, a judicial magistrate in Karachi East had discharged Godil after rejecting the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) request for his physical remand for further interrogation and investigation.
Other suspects, including Jalees Edhi, Amir Shehzad, Safdar Sajjad and Abdul Majeed Ghaziani, were remanded in FIA custody.
The state, represented by Additional Attorney General Barrister Mohsin Shahwani, later filed a criminal miscellaneous application challenging the magistrate’s decision.
The AAG argued that the magistrate had incorrectly relied on an April SHC order restraining authorities from taking coercive action against Godil. He maintained that the order was unrelated to the present case and had been issued in connection with a separate inquiry under money-laundering laws.
The prosecution contended that Godil was a primary accused in an FIR involving alleged corporate offences and that the magistrate should not have discharged him without distinguishing between the two proceedings.
A single-member bench headed by Justice Miran Muhammad Shah observed that the magistrate was required to decide the remand application promptly without altering the status quo of the investigation.
The bench noted that the magistrate was only authorised to accept or reject the FIA’s remand request and could not issue any other order.
“Any such discharge or any other order to that effect passed by the learned duty magistrate was patently illegal and in violation of the law,” the court observed.
The SHC suspended the disputed order until Sept 30 and authorised the FIA investigating officer to take Godil into custody for questioning and investigation.
Citing a Supreme Court judgment, the bench held that once an administrative order was suspended, all subsequent proceedings based on it would also lose their legal effect, including any subsequent bail order.
The court issued a notice to Godil for Sept 30 and directed the Additional Attorney General to proceed in accordance with its observations.
The FIA had registered the case against Godil and other company officials following a reference from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
