New letter to NA secretary: NAB chairman to appear in parliamentary committees, PAC

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has informed the National Assembly (NA) secretary through a letter that the NAB chairman would appear before the parliamentary committees and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) whenever required.

The new letter written to the NA Secretariat secretary stated that a letter written earlier on Jan 3, 2022 should be considered as withdrawn.

The letter said the NAB chairman “holds the Parliament of Pakistan in the highest esteem, honour and dignity. “He has already appeared before the PAC meeting and will continue to appear as and when required. “He also remains steadfast to his commitment made earlier in this regard with the PAC," the letter added.

The letter said the contents of the letter, written on Jan 3, 2022, were being misconstrued and misinterpreted by the press. Factually, the letter was addressed to the secretary National Assembly of Pakistan, informing him of certain private responsibilities of the NAB chairman regarding a close member of the family who was suffering a critical medical condition. Consequently, the NAB chairman was not available. The NAB Headquarters director general was nominated to represent the chairman as the principal accounting officer. Owing to the respect for Parliament, the DG NAB Headquarters was directed to personally attend the PAC meeting. "And in addition to answering all questions of the esteemed parliamentarians, inform them about the situation.” The letter stated that the reference made to the prime minister in the earlier letter was “inadvertent and accidental”.