ISLAMABAD: The Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) filed on Monday a detailed complaint with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his family, friends and dependents for alleged corruption.

The complaint was filed by PTI leaders Saifullah Niazi and Naeemul Haq after a demonstration by the party workers outside the NAB headquarters.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has not been mentioned in the fresh complaint, even though PTI leaders, including Imran Khan himself, have been criticising NAB for closing a case against Mr Dar recently.

In the complaint, the party has questioned how the prime minister’s family could own four properties at Avenfield House in London’s upscale Park Lane neighbourhood — purchased on June 1, 1993; July 31, 1995; and July 23, 1996. A fifth property was purchased on Jan 29, 2004.

The complaint also contained details of the prime minister’s income and tax returns and questioned how the Sharif family was able to retire a $33 million loan in 1999 on the orders of a British court, which was acquired for Hudaibiya Paper Mills from the UK-based Al-Tawfeek Company for Investment Funds.

Demonstration

Earlier, heavy contingents of police and officials from the local administration were deployed around the NAB headquarters and roads leading to the venue were barricaded. Arguments broke out between police and residents of the area, who were not allowed to cross the barricades to reach their own homes.

PTI leaders did not go inside the NAB building to file their complaint, handing it to NAB DG (Media) Nawazish Ali Asim, who was waiting for them outside his office.

Later, a NAB spokesperson told Dawn that the bureau would entertain the complaint on its merits and would carry out an across-the-board accountability.

He said that NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry had introduced a monitoring and evaluation system whereby each complaint was being entertained and investigations were completed within a span of 10 months.

However, another NAB official claimed that the cases mentioned in the PTI petition were not new and already being investigated by the bureau. “These cases are already on the list of 179 mega corruption cases, which was submitted to the Supreme Court,” he said.

The details of these 179 cases, which are also available on NAB’s official website, reveal that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is implicated in two separate cases. One involves the misuse of authority in the construction of a road from Raiwind to the Sharif family house, in which Pun­jab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is also a co-accused. In the second case, the prime minister is accused of making illegal appointments in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and misuse of authority.

While handing over the complaint to the NAB official, PTI leader Saifullah Niazi said his party would continue its protest if NAB failed to take action in the matter.

He said the nation had high hopes of NAB and the bureau would not disappoint them.

PTI spokesperson Naeemul Haq said the nation was not satisfied with NAB’s performance. “Tell us what action has been taken so far on cases against politicians and influential people,” he asked.

Following the demonstration, a number of PTI supporters reportedly assaulted a private TV channel’s cameraman, triggering a clash between PTI workers and mediapersonnel covering the event.

The heavy police contingents deployed at the place, however, stood by as silent spectators and did not intervene.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016