–NAB says victim of propaganda campaign on the basis of cases against PML-Q leaders
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and other parties to submit a reply till May 11 while hearing a case filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi regarding the bureau’s jurisdiction in opening a decades-old case.
Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem of the Lahore High Court (LHC) headed the two-member bench which conducted hearing on the Pakistan Muslim League-Q leaders. Elahi appeared before the court.
The court directed the NAB chairman and other parties in the case to submit reply till May 11 and postponed the hearing.
In a statement on Thursday, NAB alleged that the bureau was facing propaganda onslaught after the reports of the reopening of the alleged cases against the PML-Q leaders. It said the decision in this regard has yet to be taken by the NAB chief, adding the watchdog has take the decades-old cases to a logical end instead of sitting on the files forever.
The statement further said the NAB was an independent institution and worked transparently without an influence.
Chaudhry brothers had moved the LHC against the NAB chairman’s authority and alleged that the anti-corruption watchdog is involved in political engineering.
The petition had maintained, “Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has reopened 19-year-old assets beyond means case against us in which the anti-graft body failed to prove anything earlier.”
It had also questioned the jurisdiction of NAB to invoke provisions the ordinance and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 simultaneously. They argued that the bureau had no power to hold an inquiry into allegations of money laundering under the NAO 1999.
“The NAB chairman does not have the authority to reopen a 19-year-old case. We belong to a political family are being politically victimized. The court should declare the NAB chairman’s step as illegal.”
