ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan accused the government of giving itself an NRO and announced that he will move the Supreme Court against the amendments made to the NAB law this week and further alleged the rulers have eaten up Rs1,100 billion.
Terming amending NAB law as worse than bombing the country, he said those advocating the amendments must be jailed.
Addressing a news conference through video link on Tuesday, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said he had decided to challenge the amendments made by the government on the NAB law in the Supreme Court this week, saying a system that breeds corruption cannot progress. Corruption, he said is a sign of injustice and the lack of rule of law.
He went on to charge that the rulers had committed the crime of amending the NAB law, greater than anyone bombing the country. Referring to the NAB amendments, Imran contended that those who have shamelessly passed the NAB amendments should be thrown into jail. Khan explaining how the leaders of the two big political parties, PPP and PML-N would be “saved” after the changes said the government amended sections 9, 14, and 21 of the law, which will help them escape with the ill-gotten money. “We have gone to the Supreme Court and hopefully our courts will take full notice of it."
The PTI chairman alleged that he was pressurised throughout the entire duration of his government and blackmailed to provide a National Reconciliation Ordinance-type deal to major political figures of the present coalition government but he did not give in. "It should be clear now their return [to power] was not to reduce inflation." No one should doubt their intentions, he said and added now that one of their ministers Khurram Dastgir had admitted that the imported come did not come to fix inflation but because Imran Khan with 100 judges would have put everyone of them in jail, he noted. He emphasized that everyone knows that Pakistan's courts are independent, so how could Imran Khan jail Shehbaz Sharif. The former premier said the amendments to NAB law were tantamount to giving licence for corruption and added that it will favour the incumbent rulers facing corruption charges. “New NAB law will save Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz and corruption cases worth Rs1,100 billion will be closed down,” he added.
Imran said the government amended Section 14 of the law, which now states that a person will only be held accountable for the “money left in the fake accounts (when a person is arrested)”. The PTI chairman said under the current tax laws, a person has to provide the trail of his money as the onus lies on them, not the Federal Board of Revenue.
But Khan said after the NAB law amendments, the watchdog will have to prove whether a person accumulated wealth illicitly — as the government has shifted the burden from the person to the watchdog. The second change, Khan said was made to the "assets beyond means" Section 9 of the NAB law, which will provide relief to major government leaders. “If I am a public office holder earning an income of Rs50, then I will have to explain why I have assets worth Rs100 and where did I get the extra Rs50 from. But now, they have reversed the role and the NAB will have to explain how did a public office holder get extra assets,” he said. Furthermore, he claimed that the amendments to Section 21 have now made the information on foreign assets inadmissible — meaning that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz will get “clean chits” in the Avenfield Fields case.
The PTI chief said the government has now removed the investigation of money laundering cases from NAB’s ambit and has assigned them to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). “The FIA is already under the Interior Ministry’s control. How can we imagine that Rana Sanaullah will launch cases against Nawaz Sharif or Asif Zardari,” the PTI chairman added. The PTI chairman said that the government has also allowed people to “make money” through the Benami accounts as they will not be held accountable for the money they make in the name of their families. Imran said the then-opposition constantly “blackmailed” him into giving them an NRO and they were against passing legislation to meet the demands of the Financial Action Task Force. He said if the present government remained in power, then Pakistan would be on its way to a situation similar to the one in Sri Lanka. Imran said he would issue another public call to show where the nation stood on the issue, adding that history would not forget those who abetted and supported the present government in coming to power.
