October 14, 2025
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Former Chairperson of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), Rina Saeed Khan, has said that a ‘fabricated case of corruption’ has been filed against her by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). She has claimed that while she had been cooperating with FIA to clear her name, notices were ‘deliberately’ sent to a wrong address following which the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was misled about her alleged non-cooperation to secure a first information report (FIR No. 87/2025) against her.
In an exclusive interview with Voicepk following the FIR registration, Khan categorically denied all allegations and described the case as a “clear case of vendetta” orchestrated by Monal Restaurant owners, using their bureaucratic connections since a brother of the owners was serving as a federal secretary and blames her for the former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Qazi Faiz Isa’s actions against Monal. She detailed months of systematic harassment, including attacks on her residence, following last year’s Supreme Court decision ordering the restaurant’s demolition.
IWMB did not approach SC for Monal demolition
In her interview with Voicepk, Khan explained the origins of the conflict, which she traces back to a landmark Supreme Court judgment regarding Margalla Hills National Park.
“The case was brought up against me because these Monal owners clearly have a grudge against me,” she said. “They blame me for last year’s Supreme Court decision, which was a landmark judgment for the protection of Margalla Hills National Park. It was the CJ who made the decision that Monal should be demolished,” she said. She pointed out that the environmental organization WWF-Pakistan had also become party to the SC case as it concerned the protection of an ecologically sensitive area, a national park full of wildlife like common leopards and barking deer.
Crucially, Khan emphasised that IWMB did not initiate legal proceedings against Monal Restaurant.
“This was the result of Monal itself going to the Supreme Court,” she specified. “This was a case of Capital Development Authority (CDA) versus Monal Restaurant, especially as Monal’s lease had run out. Monal’s owners themselves went to the SC for relief after a decision by the Islamabad High Court which went against them,” she clarified. That decision was the result of a petition filed by former IWMB board member the eminent biologist Professor ZB Mirza who has now passed away.
The former chairperson explained that her department, IWMB, had separately approached the Supreme Court in a dispute with the CDA.
“We had gone to the Supreme Court versus CDA because CDA took over the IWMB Visitor Information Centers on trails 5 & 6 at the start of the fire season in 2024,” she said. “We went to the Supreme Court and said that this is a protected national park, we are the custodians under law and CDA is pushing us around.”
According to Khan, then Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa had clubbed both cases together. “That was a decision of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, not of ours,” she stated, adding that despite this, “the Monal owners bore this grudge that I was behind it. They even alleged that I knew the CJ’s wife which is a complete lie”.
Not part of demolition action
Khan strongly disputed any direct role in Monal’s demolition, revealing that she was not even part of the implementation committee.
“There was a proper implementation committee, which I was not even a part of. The Assistant Commissioner, the police, CDA officials, the Ministry of Climate Change officials and my senior Board members were part of this implementation committee and they oversaw Monal demolition,” she explained. “I was not even involved with the demolition, but somehow they have made me the brunt of their vendetta.” Khan suggested that her being a woman played a role in making her a target. “Im an easy target, so they can come after me.”
Fellow Board member Vaqar Zakaria has also been accused in the FIA enquiry but his as stay in the Islamabad High Court remains intact.
The former chairperson expressed bewilderment at being targeted after leaving her position.
“I’m no longer chairperson of IWMB. I’m sitting at home. But there has still been non-stop harassment,” she said.
Pattern of harassment and intimidation
Khan detailed a disturbing pattern of harassment that extended beyond legal proceedings. She identified the complainant, Muhammad Saeed, as being part of a ‘Monal-funded’ former employees’ association.
“Complainant Muhammad Saeed, is leading this Monal Employees’ Association – all paid by the Monal owners,” she alleged. “They raised a ruckus on social media after the restaurant was demolished targeting me” Khan stated. “Recently CDA has demolished villagers homes on Trail 3 and in Saidpur village but there has been no outcry. But for a restaurant the villagers started protesting? Doesn’t make any sense!”
The harassment escalated to physical intimidation at her home. “It was the same man who I believe led women from the villages around Monal during Ramadan this year to my house, and they actually threw stones at my gate, and were screaming for me to come outside so that they could insult me. And there were video cameras ready. They had paid bloggers, YouTubers to come and take a pictures of me,” she recounts.
She describes how she avoided confrontation.
“I never came outside and then I called the police. Obviously, they were attacking my house.” Khan later filed an FIR but chose not to pursue it. Reflecting on the incident, she noted that the women appeared to be hired actors.
“From their faces you could tell that they were laughing and giggling, so they were obviously paid to just cause a ruckus at my house. This harassment has been non-stop. I’ve been harassed by the owners of Monal since December 2024, while I was still chairperson. I left the post of Honorary chairperson in February 2025 when the notification was issued (for new management of Board) and the harassment just continues.”
Meanwhile, when contacted by Voicepk, Muhammad Saeed refuted the allegations that he filed a case against Rina Saeed Khan at the behest of Monal restaurant owners. “I have never worked for Monal, nor have I had any dealings with them,” Saeed stated.
As the local union council chairman, Saeed expressed concern over the mass unemployment of local residents following the demolition of the Monal restaurant.
“I approached Rina Saeed Khan, who holds an influential position, to seek her assistance in finding alternative employment for the affected residents. However, she declined to meet with us.”
Saeed, as a local politician, claimed he was aware of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board’s (IWMB) activities and had reported alleged embezzlement and misconduct to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). “I didn’t provide any documents; instead, the FIA itself registered an FIR based on evidence gathered during its inquiry.”
Climate Change Ministry inquiry cleared her of wrongdoing, misconduct
Addressing the corruption allegations, Khan revealed that the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) conducted an internal inquiry for the FIA and found no evidence of misconduct.
“The case is a clear case of vendetta. It is just a malicious attempt to malign me,” she said. “The MoCC has itself cleared me. They said there was no misuse of authority. There was no corruption. And I have the report and I can send it to you and you can read it.”
Khan explained that Monal owners prompted the internal investigation. “The Monal owner apparently went to the Ministry and insisted on an internal inquiry. They found no corruption. It’s just a made up case!”
Khan defended her board’s actions as faithful implementation of the Supreme Court’s comprehensive order against encroachments.
“The Supreme Court decision was not just against Monal, it was against all encroachments,” she explained. She revealed that IWMB attempted to implement the order fully but faced obstruction from CDA. “We pleaded with the CDA to give us a list of all the other illegal restaurants that are inside the National Park and wrote letters asking that the big polluting ones should be closed down as per Supreme Court orders but CDA refused to cooperate. They would not even share the leases with us,” she said.
“So saying that only Monal and La Montana were singled out, that’s not true. We were going after all the restaurants. We were trying to implement the Supreme Court order to protect the Margallah hills, what remains of the greenery on the Islamabad side, but then our Board was removed in February of 2025,” she said, questioning the logic of continued persecution: “Now, what is the need to come after us? Just to malign us? It wont bring Monal back.”
No salary or benefits received from IWMB
Khan provided detailed responses to allegations of financial impropriety, emphasising her volunteer status and personal financial contributions to IWMB. “The head of accounts at IWMB took the account details to FIA. He showed them all the documents. He said there is no foreign money during my tenure. Every single penny is accounted for. The Board members have no financial relationship with IWMB. Vaqar Zakaria, Imrana Tiwana and I are all honorary board members – we were not paid,” she clarified. “I have not received any salary, any benefits, any petrol, car, any housing allowance, nothing.”
As honorary Chairperson of IWMB from Nov 2020 to Feb 2025, Rina Saeed started the only wildlife rescue centre in Pakistan on the site of the old Isd zoo, she introduced the popular weekly Farmer’s Market. The Board also opened up trail number 4 to the public and helped maintain cleanliness and safety on the trails inside Margallah Hills. They would regularly hold awareness sessions to educate public about wildlife and Rina raised awareness about the common leopards living inside MHNP, declaring trail 6 to be a Leopard Preserve Zone.
Khan elaborated, adding that she personally fundraised for animal welfare. “In fact, I donated my own money to give for the animal feed because we rescued so many animals. The old zoo had been turned into a rescue center by me and we also introduced the popular farmer’s market with rent going straight to animal feed”.
Khan revealed she showed her personal bank accounts to FIA investigators. “I’ve shown all my personal accounts in past 5 years to the FIA. I said that this is all my money, everything is accounted for, so I don’t understand where these allegations of corruption are coming from. They never showed me any evidence of wrong doing, just claimed that somehow a villager living in Gokina had gotten hold of evidence against us. This evidence has never been shared with us or shown in Court!”
Why target private members and not govt board members?
Khan questioned why she and fellow non government board member Vaqar Zakaria were specifically targeted when they served on a government board alongside ministry officials. “I was not acting alone on the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board. There’s an entire board running IWMB, every decision is a Board decision after a meeting which requires a minimum of 3 participants” she stated.
“Why are they after me and Vaqar Zakaria? Because if there is evidence of wrong doing then the entire Board with all the govt officers should be held accountable. Why just us?” Khan asked.
She emphasized that both she and Zakaria come from privileged backgrounds and had no financial motives.
“Vaqar Zakaria runs a consulting firm. I come from a well-off family. We were giving back to this country. We were actually working sincerely for wildlife. He is a wildlife enthusiast. He has founded several national parks in the country. I am a committed climate change journalist. I have been writing on climate change for the last 20, 25 years,” Khan stated.
“He’s an MIT graduate. I went to SOAS as a Chevening scholar. I mean, why would we be taking money from IWMB to enrich ourselves? We were giving back to this country, and this is what they do to people who give back, who work sincerely. I mean, we were volunteering our time and energy. And this is the thanks we get for all our hard work.”
FIA’s deliberate procedural violations
In May 2025, Khan moved a writ petition in the IHC against the FIA’s inquiry, claiming that the entire investigation was the result of personal vendetta by Monal Restaurant owners unhappy with the Supreme Court order against their business empire. In her petition, Khan pointed out that the complainant Muhammad Saeed was neither an IWMB insider nor an investigative journalist; the only plausible reason for his FIA approach was that he was acting as a proxy for Luqman Ali Afzal, the influential owner of Monal Group of Companies.
Khan’s petition highlighted that although the complainant had not produced a single document to substantiate his allegations, the FIA entertained his complaint due to pressure from the brother of the Monal owner, who is a federal secretary.
The IHC initially stayed proceedings of the FIA inquiry. However, the court vacated the stay in an October 3 hearing after FIA officials told the court that Khan was not cooperating with their investigation. The very next day, on October 4, the FIA registered FIR No. 87/2025 against Khan.
Khan strongly contests the FIA’s claim of non-cooperation. “I did not get the notice because the FIA deliberately sent it to the wrong address despite the FIA knowing my home address, they know my phone number, and it was deliberately sent there three times and returned undelivered,” Khan explained. “Then they went to the judge and they said she’s not cooperating with the investigation, she’s not replying to our notices. Why would I not reply?” Khan said, adding that the notice concerned information she had already provided.
“That was just a flimsy notice about my earnings from my climate change consultancies. I have all the records most of which I already answered in the previous questionnaire.”
The sequence of events—the IHC lifting the stay based on FIA’s claims of non-cooperation, followed immediately by FIR registration—raises questions about whether the procedural violations were deliberate tactics to build a case for criminal charges.
Political connections and government machinery
Khan alleged that the Monal owners are leveraging political connections to pursue their vendetta. “Obviously when you want to politically victimize somebody, you want to smear their reputation, you want to do this very ugly sort of campaign against them, then I guess who can stop them,” she said.
When asked about the current management of IWMB, Khan expressed support while acknowledging the difficult circumstances. “I think the current management of IWMB is doing the best they can and I wish them the best of luck. Personally, I don’t want to go back, not the way that we were treated. And good luck to whoever wants to come on the board next. I mean, they’ve set a lovely example by the way they’ve mistreated us” she stated.
Khan spoke emotionally about the years of dedication she and Zakaria invested. “Vaqar Zakaria helped build this board, he has been working on the Margalla Hills National Park for the last 15 years. I devoted five years of my life. So obviously it hurts a little bit to be treated so badly. And then on top of that they are defaming us,” she said.
FIR allegations
The FIR filed against Khan includes multiple allegations: receiving donations in personal bank accounts in IWMB’s name, improper approval of brown bear transfers to Four Paws organization, illegal procurement without competitive bidding, engaging lawyers without proper authorization, illegal payment of Eid honorariums amounting to Rs. 3,279,276, unauthorized expenditure from private accounts, willful violation of bidding processes in demolition contracts, and misuse of foreign currency accounts. Khan has been charged under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947.
Most of the allegations in the FIR have in fact been copied and pasted from the audit objections of 2024 (all of IWMB accounts are audited by Auditor General of Pakistan and reports published online). According to Rina, these objections have already been replied to by the IWMB.
As this case proceeds through the legal system, Khan maintains her innocence and characterizes the FIR as retaliation for enforcing environmental protection laws. Her account raises questions about the vulnerability of volunteer public servants to legal harassment and the potential misuse of investigative agencies in private disputes. Whether the courts will find substance in the allegations or vindicate Khan’s claims of political victimization remains to be seen.