Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A day after the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) reminded the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) about the need to prevent violations of the lawful procedure in its inquiries, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday deemed it appropriate to applaud the Bureau over its ‘recent performance’.

However, it would have been fitting if the PM too had reiterated the concerns raised by the top court.

During the meeting on Tuesday, the NAB chairman was told that the Bureau could not be allowed to leak information about personnel under investigation. Earlier in August, too, the CJP had reprimanded the NAB for not respecting the privacy of personnel under investigation. The top court noted in particular that leakage of such information to the media was harming the country’s well-being by discouraging investment.

The Nishat Group of Mian Muhammad Mansha is among prominent businesses targeted by the accountability watchdog in a manner that has tarnished their reputations.

In the month of August, there appeared news reports across the electronic and print media platforms about NAB’s summons for Mian Mansha over alleged irregularities in acquisition of a property in UK.

In a subsequent clarification, the Nishat Group condemned the summons and maintained that they were issued over a ‘false’ and ‘frivolous’ complaint. The statement maintained that Mian Mansha was a victim of a campaign launched by certain vested quarters. “The entire objective is to malign the name of the group, which is one of the premier business institutions of the country,” it said. Had the Bureau stuck to the lawful procedure in the instance, it could have avoided inconvenience to the Nishat Group as well as the larger business community of the country.

Published in Daily Times, August 30^th 2018.