ISLAMABAD: An activist of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has moved the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal for what he called “levelling baseless allegations against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif that he had laundered $4.9 billion to India”.

Noor Mohammad Awan moved the SJC after his petition with the same complaint was rejected by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar last week.

According to the law, if any allegation is levelled against superior court judges and NAB chairman, it is sent to the SJC. He said it was lawful if politicians accused their rivals to secure political goals and motives.

“The esteemed institution of NAB is not supposed to become a tool of any political campaign against any political leader. For this purpose, it is the fundamental duty [of NAB] to avoid [issuing] any press release which still needs further interrogation or [is] yet to be established,” he said.

The NAB chairman, he said, issued a press release on May 8 that Nawaz Sharif transferred assets worth $4.9bn through money-laundering to India.

The PML-N activist demanded that the NAB chairman be removed because he is partial and unable to work with fairness.

He also demanded that the NAB chairman should tender an unconditional apology or the SJC take any other action which it deemed fit to serve the ends of justice.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2018