The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Monday was granted pre-arrest bail until July 21 by a special judge of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after a case was registered against him for allegedly tampering with the record of a company owned by the Sharif family.

Special judge (central) Tariq Mehmood granted the five-day pre-arrest bail to Zafarul Haq Hijazi after the submission of two surety bonds worth Rs250,000.

Earlier on July 11, the Islamabad High Court had granted protective bail to Hijazi until July 17.

The FIA, on Supreme Court's (SC) orders, had registered an FIR on July 10 against Hijazi for allegedly tampering with the record of Chaudhry Sugar Mills.

The joint investigation team (JIT) that had been probing allegations of money laundering against the Sharif family had alleged that the SECP chairman had altered records related to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills.

On June 19, the SC had directed Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali to refer this matter to the FIA.

An investigation team, headed by the FIA’s Maqsoodul Hassan and consisting of three other officials, submitted their report to the SC on July 8, which found the chairman guilty of altering the records in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

The FIA submitted the 28-page report to the apex court, endorsing the JIT’s allegation. Last Monday, following the submission of the JIT report to the SC, the three-member bench directed the attorney general to ensure the registration of an FIR against Hijazi on the same day.

But after his hearing last week, Hijazi dispelled the impression that he was going to resign, and vowed to defend himself against the allegations.

“I will join the investigation and explain the facts to the investigation agency,” he told reporters.