LAHORE - The National Accountability Bureau will start investigations against those mentioned in the Panama Papers only if it receives a formal complaint from somebody or the Supreme Court issues instructions for the purpose, NAB sources say.
“The NAB doesn’t have powers to take up the matter on its own”, the sources said when The Nation asked them why former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family had been singled out and why no action has been taken against more than 250 others mentioned in the same papers.
A number of PML-N leaders have repeatedly complained that the Sharifs have been targeted and nobody else proceeded against.
The Punjab chief minister said in a recent statement that the NAB is a hub of corruption.
Even the Supreme Court observed during various court proceedings that the NAB is a facilitator for the corrupt and it has failed to perform its duties. These observations, however, were made when Qamar Zaman Chaudhry was heading the institution.
He recently retired and was replaced by former Supreme Court judge Javed Iqbal, who is determined to proceed against all corrupt without any discrimination.
“We don’t take any action against anyone unless we receive a complaint. We are being monitored by the Supreme Court and will proceed against others mentioned in the Panama Papers if we receive instruction from the apex court”, said a NAB source while talking to The Nation.
It may be recalled that Mian Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as prime minister on the basis of proceedings in the Panama Papers case. The same SC bench also ordered references against the ex-PM, his daughter Maryam and sons Hussain and Hasan, and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
An accountability court is already seized with these references and is duty-bound to decide them within six months.
According to a list published by various Pakistani newspapers, following are the people/ entities mentioned in the Panama Papers (against whom no action has been started so far): Abdus Sattar Dero, a former general manager of the Port Qasim Authority; Shaukat Ahmed, ex-president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI); Saba Obaid, mother of renowned filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; Irfan Puri, Salman Ahmed; Gul Muhammad Tabba; Hussain Dawood with sons Abdul Samad Dawood and Shazada Dawood; Maya Ismael daughter of the late Inayat Ismael; Ali Siddiqui son of banker and stock broker Jahangir Siddiqui; Muhammad Haroon Mahmood; Mohammad Azam Ali; Romana Sher Zaman Lodhi; Khan Amir Saleem Anwar; Bashir Dawood; Mariyam Dawood; Fatima Taqi; Muhammad Bakar Gokal; Rashda Tariq; Khaliquz Zaman Khan Lodhi; Amina Bakar Gokal; Amynah Adil Jaffer; Maryam Adil Jaffer; Farah Dawood; Muhammad Talha Mahmood; Tasneem Tanveer Awan;Khan Nasir Saleem Anwar; Ambreen Haroon; Tanveer Sultan Awan; Abdul Kader Jaffer; Moonis Elahi; Ali Naqi Taqi; Tariq Salam; Amin Mohammed Lakhani; Sajjad Bakar Gokal; Nazim Fida Hussein Haji; Amer N Haji; Adil N Haji; Maha Abedi Dadabhoy; Peter McDiarmid; Imran Riaz; Mariam Bakar Gokal; Ismathunissa Mumtaz; Omer Adil Jaffer; Khan Tahir Saleem Anwar; Bashir Dawood, Mariyam Dawood & Farah Dawood; Fauzia Bakar Gokal; Iftikhar Ahmed Zahid; Mehreen Akbar; Mohammad Shaukat; Habib Ahmad; Mehboob Ahmed Sheikh; Shahid Shafiq; Ahsan Shafiq; Amir Shafiq; Shehzad Shafiq; Shan Faisal; Yousuf Jan Mohammad; Aftab Lakhany; Jawed Lakhani; Raazia Ajmal; Feroze Sayeedud Deane; Maya Inayat Ismail; Abdul Samad Dawood; Younus Zakaria Tabani; Rukhsana Chaudhry Tabani; Shazada Dawood; Samina Durrani; Majid Ahmad Khan; Osman S Khan; Sabahat Zahid; Mahin Hasib; Saleem Mohyud Din; Muhammad Farooq Naseem; Mahin Hasib; Mohamed Ashraf Abouldahab; Saleem Mohyuddin; Saad Ali; Zahid Rafiq; Javed Ahmad; Shamaila Nasir; Shams Nasir Pirzada; Humayun S Khan; Hussain Dawood; Mariam Zubair Khan; Aqueela Mumtaz; Sheikh Maqbool Ahmad; Syed Muhammad Ali; Imran Ali, Sher Ali & Hussain Ali; Navaid Malik; Khalid Hussain; Irum Hasib; Jehangir S Khan; Sheerin Shahid; Shahid Abdullah; Shayan Abdullah; Nosheen Riaz Khan; Waseem Khalida Khan; Mohammand Yousuf Ahmed; Salma Yousuf; Zulfiqar Paracha; Arif Aziz; Yousef Abduallah; Usma Yousef; Shahid Rashid Soorty; Nargis Rashid Soorty; Zahid Rashid Soorty; Syeda Zheelan Zahid; Mehreen Akbar; Asad Mahmood Ali; JT Khan; Jawaid Tariq Khan; Abdul Rashid Soorty; Nargis Shahid Soorty; Shahid Rashid Soorty; Abida Zulfiqar; Abdul Rashid Soorty; Pir Ali Gohar; Mohamed Zaffrullah Khan; Umer Aziz; Humayun S Khan; Ayaz Thaver; Gulnoor Ayaz Thaver; Osman Khan; Aqueel Hassan; Naeem Aslam Chowdry Ali Siddiqui; Fatima Waqas Paracha; Muhammad Aly Saifullah Khan Shahzaib Akhtar; Javed S Khan; Salim S Khan; Samia Roomi; Salim Khan; Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam; hamoon S Aslam; Nadeem Ahmed Jeddy; Nizar Mohammed; Noor Mohammed Ebrahim; Salman Ahmed Tabba; Gul Muhammad Tabba; Fazal Khan; Anwar S Khan; Amer Abdullah; Ali Abdullah; Ambareen Amer; Tanwir Hassan; Javed Saifullah Khan; Anwar S Khan; Osman S Khan; Sara Adnan Paracha; Iqbal S Khan; Syed Mahmood Ahmed; Syeda Sakina Bukhari; Ijaz Rashid; Zain Iftikhar Sukhera; Abid Ahmad Khan Bhatti; Mehreen Akbar; Shahid Iqbal; Rubina Haider; Riaz Haider; Imitiaz Majeed; Javed S Khan; Azfran Hasan; Irum Hasib; Fissal Atique; Askara Abbasi; Humayun Khan; Javed S Khan; Hamid Ullah; Anwar S Khan; Iqbal S Khan; Waseem Gulzar Chaudhry; Jehangir Saifullah Khan; Faisal Farid; Muhammad Iqbal; Nadeem Abdullah and Noshaba Nadeem.
