Karachi (Staff Report): Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was being used for political engineering.
Addressing a press conference along with senior party leaders, including Qaim Ali Shah, at the Sindh Assembly in Karachi, the PPP chairman termed the law of NAB as the “black law”.
He said that the institutions made during former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s era arrested the Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.
He said that without any proof Agha Siraj Durrani was arrested and now the officials are searching for evidence.
“This doesn’t happen in any democracy and civilised country,” said the PPP chairman.
“According to the Charter of Democracy, the NAB should be abolished,” Bilawl said, quoting slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
On political victimisation, he emphasised that Article 10-A of the Constitution grants every citizen the right to a free trial.
Reacting to the transfer of fake accounts case to Rawalpindi from Karachi, Bilawal said that the transfer of the case was a violation of jurisdiction.
“In the case, the FIR, accused, accounts, transactions, companies, banks etc all are in Sindh… What is in Rawalpindi?” said Bilawal. He added that NAB should also hold its officials accountable for their actions.
He urged that the probe authority should refrain from political engineering.
The PPP chairman said that the party leaders are being dragged in the benami accounts case. “Even if an angel is made the chairman of NAB, he will do political engineering.”
On February 20, NAB had arrested Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani from a private hotel in Islamabad and taken to the NAB office in Rawalpindi.
He was under investigation in three cases pertaining to illegal appointments, accumulating assets beyond means, and embezzlement of funds.
This is pertinent to mention that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is investigating 32 people, including Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in connection with money laundering through fake accounts.
Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July in connection with the probe.
Former president's other close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani were also arrested by FIA in this connection.
Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in some banks from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources.
According to FIA sources, the amount is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.
