- Says PM rightly pointed out ‘harassment’ of innocent officials by NAB on baseless charges
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) should not take actions to show ‘mere performance’ rather its officials should act responsibly.
“The NAB would not be allowed to take action in order to please others and balance its actions being taken in other provinces,” the minister said while talking to reporters at the Punjab Assembly.
Prime Minister Sharif had, while addressing party workers in Bahawalpur on Tuesday, asked the NAB to act responsibly and reconsider its limits and approach of action.
Sanaullah said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had the authority to issue directives to the NAB if he deemed it necessary. “The prime minister had rightly pointed out harassment of innocent persons by NAB officials on baseless charges,” he said, adding, “NAB officials must act with responsibility.”
The minister said the Punjab government would welcome the NAB if it decided to initiate action against the corrupt in the province after Sindh. He said no charge of mega corruption had been levelled against the incumbent government.
Unlike the previous government of Pakistan People’s Party under which many mega scams had surfaced, PML-N leaders’ hands were clean and the NAB was free to investigate any case, Sanaullah said.
The minister said all the NAB references against the prime minister were prepared during the Musharraf’s rule which were “fabricated”. He said he was giving a reasonable justification as corruption worth a penny was not proven against him.
He urged different sections of society to draw positive conclusion of the prime minister’s statement, saying “Nawaz Sharif in no way was responsible for shortcomings and mistakes committed by different institutions.”
The minister asserted that there was no organised network of militant group Daesh in the country, adding that the government had not received any evidence in this respect. Only a few Pakistanis had gone to Syria while many were stopped from doing so in pre-emptive actions, he said.
Sanaullah said that Daesh could not spread its activities in Pakistan, adding that law enforcers were best performing in Punjab and taking actions in Kacha areas as well. The law and order situation in the cities of Punjab was not like Karachi, concluded the minister.