Parliamentary probe can’t be launched: Farogh

LAHORE: Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem said there is no law to launch parliamentary investigations against the National Accountability (NAB) chairman. There is no allegation of dishonesty against him. There is a consensus that the NAB chief is honest and the NAB needs a person like him. Taking this issue to the assembly or a parliamentary committee will be equal to sidetracking it. The NAB should continue to work. The government never exerted pressure on NAB.

Speaking in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Friday, Farogh Naseem said it has come to the fore that the video of a woman involving the NAB chairman is bogus. The husband of that woman is seeking pardon. He said the NAB chairman has contradicted some points raised by a journalist. Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal says he talked about some issues but the journalist portrayed his talks wrongly. Farogh said if the talks in the interview are considered true, even then there is nothing controversial.

Farogh said Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal is not a serving judge, so there is no bar on him. He is conducting an impartial accountability. If a person has any objection to his working, he should contradict allegations against him. It’s of no use to launch attacks on him. This kind of tactics will neither affect the NAB chairman nor the government. He said there is something wrong with this husband and wife and somebody wants to make an issue out of it. He said the NAB chairman can be dismissed like a judge of the supreme court on misconduct, but the Supreme Judicial Council’s procedure is not defined here. The related point here is the code of conduct. It means if the leader of the house and the opposition leader agree that the NAB chairman is involved in misconduct like a supreme court judge, they can give advice to the president for the dismissal of the NAB chairman.

He said as regards the prime minister, he is not even thinking about it. The prime minister wants the NAB to work independently and impartially and that’s what the NAB is doing. If the journalist’s point of view is considered true, it means both the government and the opposition are pressuring the NAB chairman, but he is not ready to bow to any pressure. In this perspective, there is no match for Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal to head an institution like NAB because he is not submitting to pressure from any side. If the NAB chairman frees a person despite having proof against him, everybody will know it. There is no financial corruption allegation against Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. We should respect him and give him a chance.