Islamabad: Pakistan’s Anti-Corruption Bureau’s National Accountability Bureau has approved the filing of a new case against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. This information has been given in the news in the media. A few days ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan had requested the authorities to dispose of corruption cases as soon as possible.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Sharif, 70, was disqualified by the Supreme Court in 2017 on corruption charges, after which he had to resign as prime minister. He is currently in London for treatment. According to Dawn, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has registered cases against Sharif’s former private secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad, former federal minister Ehsan Iqbal, former foreign secretary Aijaz Chaudhry and former intelligence chief (IB) Aftab Sultan. Registration is also approved.
A meeting of the Executive Board (EBM), chaired by NAB chairman retired Judge Javed Iqbal, approved the registration of a total of 11 cases. According to the NAB, these new cases against Sharif, Chaudhry, Sultan and Fawad will be registered in connection with the purchase of 73 high security vehicles “illegally” for the protection of foreign dignitaries.
He is accused of bias and illegal use of vehicles, which has caused a loss of more than Rs 1 billion 95 crore 20 lakh to the national exchequer. EBM also cleared a case against Ehsan Iqbal and Malik Mohammad Ahmed, contractors of private company Ahmed & Sons, for colluding with the authorities to increase the cost of the Sport City project in Narowal from Rs 3 crore to Rs 30 crore.
The NAB has taken this step after the recent speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan, in which he said that the opposition will now face a “different-tempered Imran Khan”. His statement was seen as a warning to arrest more opposition leaders and prosecute them in court. He also requested the NAB to expedite the disposal of corruption cases.
