KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday restrained the federal probe agency from taking any coercive action against TikTok star Harim Shah in its probe into money laundering allegations till March 8.
The interim restraining order came on Harim Shah's plea against the issuance of an FIA notice on his social media video, which he claimed to have cleared immigration to travel abroad with large amounts of foreign currency without any cheque. Harim Shah submitted that he had received a notice from the FIA issued on 13 January. The FIA had directed the TikTok star to appear before the probe agency on January 19 as his video defamed the country and admitted to the crime of money laundering. She submitted that she came to know through the media that the FIA has also approached private banks to freeze her bank accounts. The TikTok star, who has over 6.5 million followers on social media sites, said that she is currently living in the UK and has already apologized for the video clips on various electronic media channels. He submitted that one of his acquaintances in the UK also admitted that the money shown in the video belonged to him. She submitted that the Ministry of Information Technology had also issued instructions to the Pakistan Telecom Authority to block her social media accounts, though she was paid by various sponsors.
The petitioner's counsel submitted that the impugned notice of the FIA was illegal and illegal, which not only caused damage to the reputation of his client, but also violated his fundamental rights as protected and protected under the Constitution. The counsel submitted that the petitioner wanted to join the FIA investigation but feared arrest or coercive action.
He requested the court to declare the investigation and notice of FIA illegal and direct them not to freeze the bank accounts of the petitioner. The petitioner also wanted to restore her social media accounts.
A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohd Karim Khan Agha, after preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the deputy attorney general and the investigating officer of the FIA to appear before the court on the next hearing, while restraining the FIA from taking any coercive action. Gave. Against the petitioner till March 8