Senators barred from appearing before NAB

ISLAMABAD: Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla, during proceeding in the Senate on Wednesday, barred Senate members from appearing before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) without approval from the Senate chairman's office.

The Senate deputy chairman took this stance when National Party (NP) Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo submitted a privilege motion on reports of the NAB allegedly preparing to take action against him for allegedly having purchased properties billions in six districts of Punjab. He said NAB had written to him and there were reports about his possible arrest.

To this, Mandviwalla, who chaired the sitting, said that he had written letters to the NAB chairman and all members of the Upper House, barring them from appearing before the accountability watchdog without approval from the Senate chairman’s office. “No senator should appear before NAB without taking permission from the (Senate) chairman office,” Mandviwalla said. He added this protocol should be followed if a member receives any notice from the bureau. “If NAB forces you to come, make it clear that the bureau should communicate with the (Senate) chairman office,” he added.

Rabbani rose to explain that the position taken by the chair was substantiated by the relevant rules and that some reasons of sending a notice to a senator for summoning should also be mentioned to the Senate chairman. But the opposition parties appeared unconvinced and wanted the chair to refer the motion to the House committee concerned while Opposition Leader Raja Zafarul Haq demanded that the NAB chairman be summoned to the Senate to explain the bureau’s recent steps against parliamentarians.

Senator Zafar said this process would not bar NAB from doing what it was planning or doing and added that the NAB chief should be called for discussing the rules with him. He also demanded that a special committee be formed over the issue.

But the deputy Senate chairman stressed that the Opposition parties should wait for the NAB chairman to respond to his letter.

Bizenjo noted, “I have been accused of purchasing property worth billions and my wife, daughter and nephews had been implicated as well. I challenge ISI, FIA and NAB to form a JIT against me and I shall appear before it and if that is not enough, I am ready to appear before a committee formed by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)”.

Bizenjo claimed that he “unfortunately” had a hand in the appointment of the current NAB chairman. “I supported him because he belonged to Balochistan,” the NP president added.

PML-N parliamentary leader Senator Mushahidullah claimed that besides NAB, some ministers were also conducting the media trial of Opposition lawmakers. “Opposition members are arrested but only inquiries are carried out against government members,” the PML-N senator alleged and added that the same treatment should also be meted out to Prime Minister Imran Khan, his sister Aleema Khan and others.

Leader of the House Syed Shibli Faraz and PTI Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak charged that none should consider himself above accountability and that it should be ensured that there must be no pressure on the anti-graft body.

Senator Khattak said that he had appeared before NAB more than once and there was nothing wrong in it. Shibli said PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz was also summoned by NAB and that there should be a mechanism ensuring the lawmaker’s dignity but none was above the law and accountability.

While, Opposition in the Senate grilled the government for keeping the House in the dark about the Pakistan-backed talks between the United States and Taliban, forcing Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla to summon Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to brief the Senate on this matter.