Ex chairman SECP Zafar Hijazi leaving court premises. Photo: Geo News

ISLAMABAD: Zafar Hijazi, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), was indicted on Friday on charges of altering records related to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills and pressuring departmental officers to tamper documents.

During the hearing in the court of special judge Iram Niazi, Hijazi pleaded not guilty after the charges against him were read out.

The former SECP chairman said that a case cannot be registered against him as he neither tampered nor pressurised any departmental officer to alter records.

SECP Chairman Zafar Hijazi arrested on record tampering charges

Hijazi's legal counsel maintained that both SECP officers named in the case had acted on their own

Meanwhile, the prosecutors maintained that they have solid evidence against Hijazi and they will prove it in the court of law.

An inquiry team of the Federal Investigation Agency had found Hijazi guilty of tampering the records of companies owned by the Sharif family. 

The team had submitted a 28-page inquiry report to the Supreme Court on July 9, in which it had endorsed the stance of the joint investigation team probing the offshore assets of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in connection with the Panama Papers case.

A lower court on July 17 had granted a five-day pre-arrest bail to Hijazi against two surety bonds worth Rs250,000 each after Hijazi filed for a pre-arrest bail as per Section 498 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan, citing medical grounds as the basis for the request.