ISLAMABAD: Former information minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Marriyum Aurangzeb has claimed that by releasing an anonymous application against her to the media, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has defied the orders of the chief justice of Pakistan and, therefore, committed contempt of the court. She demanded that the bureau be reprehended for this act.

“There is a clear directive of the Supreme Court that NAB should not share any information with the media before completion of an inquiry or filing of a reference,” she said while speaking to reporters outside an accountability court on Thursday.

She appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to ensure implementation of his orders.

Ex-minister says by sharing application against her with media the anti-graft watchdog has defied CJP’s orders

Warning NAB against humiliating people, she asked: “Is there any law which will protect the honour and respect of politicians in this country?”

A few days ago, the media reported that NAB had started an inquiry against Ms Aurangzeb.

The former minister alleged that NAB had deprived her of the right of fair trial under Article 10-A of the Constitution.

She said the name of the complainant against her should be shared with the media.

Ms Aurangzeb said she was always open to accountability, but warned that she wouldn’t let anyone berate or even think of insulting her. She said she would gain even more credibility from this frivolous smear campaign regardless of what NAB would get out of such a tainted act.

Ms Aurangzeb alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was trying to sell the ‘NRO narrative’ as a distraction from its disastrous rule. She said the PTI government knew that the people had rejected this narrative and understood the inability and incapacity of “this group of corrupt and incompetent individuals masquerading as the so-called ambassadors of change”.

The former minister alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan had destroyed the national institution for accountability by infiltrating and influencing it politically, adding that this tactic wouldn’t work for too long.

“Will the devaluation of the Pakistani rupee stop with 150 court appearances of Nawaz Sharif? Will the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif result in withdrawal of skyrocketing inflation gifted by the PTI to people? Will the illegal abduction of Saad Rafique without any filed reference fill up Pakistan’s depleting foreign reserves? Will putting an illegal travel ban on Hamza Shahbaz result in lowering of electricity and gas prices which are crushing the people of Pakistan? Will launching and advertising a frivolous inquiry against her mask the disastrous failures of the incompetent PTI government? Will smear campaigns against her in the name of anonymous applications hide glaring theft of public money by Aleema Baji and the NRO gifted to her by the prime minister?” she asked.

Ms Aurangzeb said that the PTI government had led the country to a dangerous crisis on every front.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2018