Retired Justice Javed Iqbal, the incumbent chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), on Wednesday asked members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly to keep faith in the accountability watchdog.

In a briefing to the PAC, he assured committee members that all pending inquiries will be dealt with soon and properly.

Talking about Ali Jahangir Siddiqui, the ambassador designate to the United States, Iqbal said steps had been taken to place his name on the Exit Control List but a court of law had refrained the bureau from proceeding further in this regard.

Following the PAC hearing, he told reporters that no power can pull the strings of the bureau.

"The committee expressed its confidence in the bureau. Currently, there is no power which can pull the strings of NAB. I will take my briefcase and quit the institution if a string is pulled," he assured.

He made it clear that NAB was not taking "revenge" and that he will take full responsibility and leave his position if discrimination or revenge is proved in his actions.

He said that refraining Nawaz Sharif [from leaving the country] was not his responsibility. "The bureau has nothing to do with holding or not holding general elections," he said.

Some inquiries have already been started, whereas some others are yet to be initiated, he explained in response to another question, adding that red notices have been issued to bring back some wanted accused from the United Kingdom to Pakistan.

"A lot of proclaimed offenders will be brought back in the coming days," he said.

"Our interior minister had never been so powerful as to hand over people to other countries," he said while responding to a question on the reports of former dictator Pervez Musharraf handing over wanted individuals to the US in exchange for money.

The incumbent NAB chairman had previously headed a high level commission investigating missing persons.

"Those in the corridors of powers should be questioned in this regard," he said when a reporter attempted to probe the matter further.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...