Allegations of harassment: Acting NAB chief challenges PAC mandate in IHC

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau’s acting chairman, Zahir Shah, on Tuesday challenged the mandate of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The petitioner made the Federation — through the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, National Assembly speaker, PAC chairman and others — party in the plea, which states that the notice issued by the PAC on harassment allegations was beyond its jurisdiction.

IHC acting chief justice Amir Farooq will hear the plea today (Wednesday) with objections of the registrar

The petition says that an inquiry was going on against the PAC chairman in the Bureau, and he had issued notices to regional directors general, adding that the move was a matter of conflict of interest. The PAC chairman should not preside over meetings relating to NAB issues.

The PAC in its proceedings on June 24 went beyond its mandate, the NAB chief said in his petition. He pleaded to the court to declare summons issued by the PAC on June 24 as void and restrain the parliamentary body from any action.

Meanwhile, Tayyaba Gul moved a petition in the IHC to make her party in the case filed by the Lahore NAB DG against the summon notice issued to him by the PAC in a harassment matter. The court had already sought assistance from the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) in the maintainability of the NAB DG’s plea.