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Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz on Wednesday skipped an appearance before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Lahore, and expressed his distrust in the bureau through a written reply.
He expressed the distrust in response to a call-up notice by NAB in connection with charges of money laundering and assets beyond known sources of income.
He wrote, “I have lost confidence in the credibility and impartiality of the bureau and thus have no trust in the so-called investigation being carried under the aegis of NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal.”
Read more: NAB says it has arrested ‘suspects who laundered money for Shahbaz Sharif’s family’
“On account of various factors, I have always had serious reservations as to the motive behind the proceedings by the bureau during the recent past; the said reservations have proven to be well founded on account of an interview of NAB chairman by an eminent journalist wherein the chairman went on to make disclosures compromising minimum standards of impartiality and fairness of an investigation,” the PML-N leader said.
Hamza added, “As per contents, the said interview appears to be a political narrative of the present regime, rather than an account of the impartiality of an investigating agency.”
The PML-N leader also mentioned in the letter that the instant call-up notice contained similar questions to which he had already respond.
“I have been declaring all my assets and income related information before the tax authorities and as a public office holder before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as per the law.”
A day earlier Hamza Shahbaz had expressed reservations in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on the bench hearing a case against him in the light of a controversial media interview of NAB chairman.
Hamza had said the bureau’s chairman claimed that the bench of the high court hearing NAB-related cases had been changed and managed.
He said the chairman stated in his interview that he (Iqbal) would not let Hamza hide behind the relief of bail any longer and would be arrested soon. He said the chairman of the anti-graft watchdog made the bail proceedings before the high court controversial by claiming to have managed formation of the bench.
Interview content
In his controversial interview to columnist Javed Chaudhry published in an Urdu daily last week, the NAB chairman had reportedly spoken on the progress of many ongoing cases against the politicians belonging to the ruling party as well as the opposition members.
In his reported interview, the NAB chairman had predicted the arrests of many politicians, including Asif Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Aslam Raisani and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, in near future.
Retired Justice Javed Iqbal, who had taken oath as the acting chief justice of Pakistan after former military dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf sacked then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March 2007, had claimed that Shahbaz Sharif had put three conditions for depositing the money in the national exchequer. He claimed that Shahbaz Sharif had informed them that the money would be deposited by a foreign country and demanded that in return he should be given a clean chit and that his son Hamza Shahbaz should be made the chief minister of Punjab.
In his reported interview, the NAB chairman had also alleged that he was facing pressure and threats from the ruling PTI which wanted NAB to close cases against Firdous Ashiq Awan, Aleem Khan, Babar Awan and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In the same interview, he had stated that Zardari was “shivering” when he was called to the NAB office for interrogation.
Later, in what appears to be a damage-control step, the NAB chairman held a press conference in which he explained the working of NAB as well as highlighted its recent achievements. Though he did not categorically deny giving any interview, but said his talk was “distorted”, adding that he “didn’t know that the journalists have become fortune tellers”.