Daily Times

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has served a legal notice on National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal for raising baseless allegations against him of laundering $4.9 billion to India.

The legal notice sent on Thursday states that the NAB chief issued a false and defamatory press release on May 8 on the basis of media reports that Nawaz sent $4.9 billion to India through money laundering after which foreign exchange reserves of India were increased and losses were inflicted to Pakistan’s national exchequer.

The NAB press release had cited World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook of 2016, but as per the notice sent on Thursday, the World Bank report did not contain any such information.

According to the notice, Nawaz is neither mentioned in the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook nor in any other official document, and still the NAB statement ‘connected him to the alleged money laundering with the intention to malign him and cause him political damage’.

The notice has been served under Section 8 of the Defamation Ordinance of 2002, which allows a person to demand action on defamatory matter against them.

The NAB chief has been asked to publish a comprehensive and proper apology in two English and the same number of Urdu dailies and also broadcast his apology in the same manner and with the same prominence as the earlier transmission.

Justice (retd) Iqbal has also been asked to pay Rs1 billion in damages to Nawaz on account of the defamatory publications and for the subsequent losses.

According to the notice, the NAB chief’s failure to comply will result in civil and criminal proceedings against him and the institution for maladministration under relevant laws.

Earlier, Nawaz had demanded the NAB chief to present proof that he laundered money or resign from office. “The NAB chairperson should present all evidence against me within 24 hours,” Nawaz said, while addressing an emergency press conference at the Punjab House on May 10. “If you fail to present evidence, then you should publicly apologise to the nation and resign.”

In his response, the NAB chief said it was not a crime to probe into corruption. “We shall continue to do so even if it is considered a crime by anyone,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, May 25^th 2018.