ISLAMABAD: Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla on Wednesday denied that there was any plan to get Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) former Justice Javed Iqbal arrested if he did not appear before Senate or its relevant committee in connection with a privilege motion moved against senior NAB officials by Mandviwalla.
“This is a rumour floated by you guys,” he said while speaking to media, responding to a question whether the chairman NAB would be arrested if he did not show up at the Senate.
“Chairman NAB is an ex-judge. I am sure he is well aware of the sanctity of the Parliament. I think he will appear when he will be summoned,” Mandviwalla said.
He said NAB was formed to check corruption and not to check exports/imports and sale, purchase of plots. “NAB should have no involvement in private businesses. This needs to be stopped. NAB has to be stopped from summoning and harassing private individuals. It’s not NAB’s mandate and it’s against NAB’s law.”
Asked to comment on the remarks of Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Mirza Shahzad Akbar wherein he showed concern over Mandviwalla’s privilege motion, the deputy chairman Senate said “Now, he (Akbar) will tell us how to run the Parliament. He is no one to interfere in parliamentary business. It is the right of every lawmaker to move privilege motion. Shahzad Akbar should mind his own business and stop poking his nose in the affairs of Parliament.”
Regarding allegations that he was using Senate forum for personal interests, Mandviwalla said “I take offence to that. I am a senator and I have every right to use Senate forum if I am facing any kind of problem. Where else should I go? I am entitled to raise my voice from the forum of Senate if there is any issue bothering me.”
Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani on Tuesday finally summoned Senate session, requisitioned by the opposition, on the 30th of this month, mainly to take up privilege motion moved by Manvdiwalla. The five-point agenda of the session includes discussion on privilege motion against chairman NAB, Director General NAB Rawalpindi Irfan Mangi and Investigation Officer Mudassar who probed Mandviwalla case in NAB.
The agenda also includes consideration and passage of resolution against “human rights violations by NAB” as well as discussion and passage of resolution for “verification of degrees, domicile certificates and assets declaration of NAB authorities/officials.”
Apart from NAB, the agenda includes discussion on “unprecedented crackdown on opposition workers” and “massive scale of pre-poll, polling day rigging and result-tampering fraud in Gilgit-Baltistan.”
In the resolution against NAB, opposition would recommend that the matter of “human rights abuses by NAB” be referred to Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights headed by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), a PPP senator told Business Recorder, requesting anonymity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020