ISLAMABAD - Hundreds of PTI marchers moved the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the launch of a probe into corruption charges against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members.
PTI Additional Secretary General Saifullah Khan Niazi led the marchers to the bureau in the Red Zone to protest against, what they called, NAB inaction over cases against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members. The charged crowd chanted slogans against PML-N government.
Niazi and PTI Secretary Information Naeemul Haq handed over the complaint to NAB Media Director Nawazish Ali Asim following the former’s address to the protesters.
Some PTI workers clashed with the staff of two TV channels, prompting Chairman Imran Khan to tender apology over the mistreatment.
The party filed the complaint under section 18 (b) (ii) of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 against PM Sharif and his dependents/family members for the commission of offence of corruption and corrupt practices.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has also been mentioned in the complaint as the family member of PM Nawaz while Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his two sons Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz and daughter Maryam Nawaz were also named.
Sources in the NAB informed The Nation that the bureau would deal with the PTI complaint as a private complaint as it receives several private complaints against the government officials daily.
“We will deal with the complaint as a pure private complaint,” a senior officer said on anonymity.
He said the bureau could not take action on a private complaint against anyone until the verification.
“We will send the (PTI) complaint for verification process and then take the decision whether to act or not, the officer said adding that it was not a reference at all from PTI as only government institutions could send reference to NAB against any corruption scam. Another officer of the bureau said that some cases mentioned in the complaint had already been decided by courts or pending before these.
When contacted, spokesman for Nawazash Ali said that he was not in position to pass comment on the legal aspects of complaint.
“Kindly perform your duties before Allah and fellow Pakistanis, so that you are neither condemned by history nor by the judgment of the present,” the complaint read.
“In the light of Panama leaks, the admitted transgressions by Ishaq Dar, supported by evidence, the money-laundering, the futile attempts to hide it, the purchases of properties in London between 1993 to 1996 and later the loans obtained against these properties, the judgment given in London and the execution, the BBC report confirming the purchases of properties in the Park Lane clearly showing Nawaz Sharif family from ordinary businessmen to super rich politicians, Raymond Baker’s book charging Nawaz Sharif with millions of dollars of corruption whose allegations were never contested and never charged for defamation by the Sharifs, all lead to the inescapable conclusion that grave offences under the NAB Ordinance have been committed and limitations does not run against crimes,” said the complaint.
Earlier addressing the workers, Niazi lamented that corruption costs Rs 12billion to country daily . “The Sharif family introduced money laundering in the country when no one knew about it,” he added.
He said that death sentence was awarded in China over corruption but here in Pakistan a clean chit was given to the corrupt. “NAB did not take action against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar though he had submitted an affidavit about money-laundering.”
“Corruption is the behind all the ills and there cannot be any change unless NAB does its job honestly,” he said while asking the bureau “which big fish you [NAB] have arrested till date?” He strongly criticised NAB’s role and said that Pakistan couldn’t prosper unless NAB would start working impartially.
Agencies adds: The PTI, earlier, decided to file a case against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar with the NAB, seeking the reopening of a corruption case worth over Rs130 billion, which was closed down 10 days ago.
On July 15, the NAB officially announced it had acquitted Mr Dar and closed the investigation, which was opened in the year 2000.
The petition was converted into one against the premier, which also names Dar and mentions the finance minister’s “admitted transgressions”.
Imran Mukhtar/ Nokhaiz Sahi