The way he was criticising the government, especially Prime Minister Imran Khan, the arrest Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) MNA Syed Khursheed Shah was just a matter of time. This is the perception that the method of accountability has developed among people. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Shah in Islamabad in a case regarding assets beyond means. The most pressing charge against him is about an amenity plot in a housing society in Sukkur, which, as per NAB sources, the MNA converted into a residential plot, besides stashing some benami properties in the name of his front men or servants. Had the accountability watchdog been dead sure about of the authenticity of the allegation, it would have instituted a reference against the vocal MNA months ago. Now, in days to come, we will see if Shah stands trial in Sukkur. No one knows when the ongoing inquiry against him will be converted into an investigation before a reference is filed. Just like other leaders, he will undergo of physical and judicial remand.
Shah is just an addition to the list of opposition leaders facing NAB trials, such as former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Maryam Nawaz, former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, former finance minister Miftah Ismail, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz. Of the long list of NAB suspects, only Shahbaz Sharif has secured bail. The fate of others seems uncertain too because the trial goes on at a snail’s pace. NAB authorities justify the arrests of suspects to accumulate tangible and intangible evidences against them, and to grill them. At the end of the day, the exercise turns out to be burden on NAB authorities. Several people picked by NAB for interrogation have later secured bail after courts see no meat in evidence in their cases. PPP leaders Sharjeel Memon and Dr Asim Husain, and PTI leaders and former provincial ministers Aleem Khan and Sibtain Khan, stand out as glaring example of NAB’s incompetence.
The arrest of Shah, a sitting MNA, at a time when the house is in session, points to the government’s disregard for the law of the land. The assembly rules state that the speaker’s permission is mandatory to arrest a parliamentarian during a session. The speaker himself has undermined the sanctity of his office by refusing to issue production orders of detained parliamentarians. History is watching the actions of all actors. *