A National Assembly fact-finding committee formed to investigate a list reportedly prepared by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to monitor 37 parliamentarians believed to have links with banned outfits on Tuesday took up the matter with Arshad Sharif — the journalist who had broken the story — even as Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director General Aftab Sultan continued to insist that the list was “a fake and forged document”.

In September, Arshad Sharif had claimed during his TV programme that then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had directed the IB on July 10 — three weeks before his disqualification by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case — to probe 37 lawmakers for their alleged links with banned and sectarian outfits.

After the news broke, the PML-N had faced embarrassment in the National Assembly when its own lawmakers staged a walkout to register their protest on the matter.

Subsequently, the IB had issued a denial on the report, whereas Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had also assured the affected lawmakers on the floor of the assembly that the 'news' was fake.

To further cool matters, the premier had arranged a meeting between the IB director general and several parliamentarians named in the list. The IB chief had reportedly personally assured the lawmakers that the said list was a fake document and had not been issued by his agency.

Both the IB chief and the TV host also submitted their respective responses before the NA committee.

After Tuesday's meeting, which was held in-camera, Committee Chairman Rana Afzal said: "The IB chief has briefed the committee that the letter was bearing a fake number and that the agency had not issued any such letter."

He added that the bureau seemed not to have received any directives from Prime Minister House in this regard.

"The committee has collected the complete record regarding the issue and will make final recommendations after reviewing the record," he added.

The chairman further said that the meeting had been called 'in-camera' on the IB's request.

However, the journalist, Arshad Sharif, asserted that IB officials themselves had confirmed the list's authenticity to him.

"The news was aired after confirming with two IB officials," he maintained. The IB chief had then agreed to the possibility that a conspiracy might have been hatched in his office, claimed Sharif.

He also raised objections to holding the meeting in-camera and alleged that various forums are being used to suppress his voice.

"Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Chairman Absar Alam has also threatened during the meeting that he would do whatever he can," Sharif claimed.

The journalist further alleged that rejecting all unfavourable news has been a policy of the IB, as was evident from the proceedings of the meetings of parliamentary committees held between 2014 to 2017.

He further said that prior to the airing of the monitoring list news, several media outlets had reported in July that the IB had been directed to act against any possible forward block forming [within the treasury benches].