ISLAMABAD:
Former Chairperson of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) Rina Saeed Khan has strongly rejected allegations of corruption and misconduct, calling the FIA’s case against her a “personal vendetta” instigated by parties aggrieved over a Supreme Court verdict protecting the Margalla Hills.
Responding to an FIR (No. 87/2025) filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the complaint of Muhammad Saeed, Rina said the accusations of financial irregularities, misuse of authority, and illegal procurement were “baseless and politically motivated.”
The FIR includes sections of criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, criminal breach of trust (S.409 PPC), and cheating (S.420 PPC), alleging that Rina misused her office, mishandled donations, and authorized the transfer of brown bears to the international organization Four Paws without full board consent.
Rina dismissed the claims, stating that Muhammad Saeed, the complainant, was not an IWMB employee but the head of the Monal Employees Association, allegedly acting as a proxy for the Monal Restaurant’s management, whose business had been affected by the court’s ruling.
“This campaign of harassment began after the Supreme Court’s decision to protect the Margalla Hills. Monal employees were even paid to attack my home – and now they’re using the FIA to continue this intimidation,” she told APP.
The principal charge cited in the FIR concerns the alleged “illegal procurement” for the demolition of the Monal building, a claim Rina says was already investigated and dismissed by a Federal Government Committee headed by the Secretary of Climate Change, which cleared both her and the Board.
“I rely on that committee’s verdict, which found no wrongdoing. This renewed inquiry is nothing more than retaliation for implementing the Supreme Court’s order,” she asserted.
It may be recalled that in May 2023, a three-member Supreme Court bench dismissed Monal’s appeals against a 2018 Islamabad High Court judgment, which had ordered the restoration of eight kanals of Margalla Hills land illegally occupied by the restaurant – a ruling that drew global praise from environmentalists but also triggered tensions between Monal’s management and the IWMB
