LAHORE: National Accountability Bureau chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal was briefed on Jang group editor-in-chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s case during his visit to the provincial headquarters here on Thursday.

According to NAB, a combined investigation team (CIT) accompanied by legal and land revenue experts headed by NAB Lahore Director General Shahzad Saleem briefed the chairman on Mr Rahman’s case.

The NAB on March 12 had arrested Mr Rahman in a 34-year-old case related to 54-kanal land he allegedly acquired “illegally” in the tenure of then chief minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif. He has been on physical remand till March 25.

The NAB chairman also reviewed the updates in the ongoing mega corruption scandals.

Justice Iqbal said the NAB believed in the freedom of media. “The bureau has been discharging its national duties as per law and ensuring merit against alleged corrupt elements without taking any kind of pressure, threat or bowing before any propaganda campaign launched against it,” he said and added the NAB had a firm faith in merit-based working within an ambit of rule of law.

“NAB’s initiatives against corrupt elements are destined to weed out corruption from motherland which has been appreciated by numerous national and international organisations like Trans­parency Internati­onal (TI), World Economic Forum, PILDAT and MISAL Pakistan etc,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2020