ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday announced that his party will challenge the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Supreme Court this week and stated that history will never forgive those who imposed the current “imported government” on the country, which “came into power with an agenda to give themselves an “NRO” in corruption cases against them”.

In a televised statement from his Bani Gala residence, the former prime minister strongly criticised the incumbent government allegedly by giving immunity in their billions of rupees’ corruption cases and maintained that the amendments in the NAB laws will also give them an “NRO” in Rs1,100 billion “plundered” money abroad.

“What happened in the National Assembly, shamelessly, warrants to send them to jail. No one can pass such shameless laws as this government did,” he said, adding that the amendment made in Section 14 will provide an “NRO” to the PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, in his fake account cases and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his sons in the Rs24 billion money laundering cases.

After the amendment, he added that a person will only be held accountable for the money left in the fake accounts after the accused is arrested.

He stated that under the current tax laws, a person has to provide the trail of his money as the onus lies on them, not the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), adding that after the amendments, now the NAB will have to prove whether a person accumulated wealth illicitly by shifting the burden from the accused to the NAB.

Through the amendment in Section 9 which deals with “assets beyond means”, the PTI chairman said that it will also provide relief to the incumbent rulers, as the responsibility has been shifted from the accused to the NAB to prove allegations of the assets beyond means against any person.

“For instance, if I’m a public office holder, having an income of Rs50, I will have to explain why I have assets worth Rs100 and where did I get the extra Rs50 from. But now, they have reversed the law and now the NAB will have to explain how did a public office holder make extra assets,” Khan added.

Through the amendment in Section 21, he added that now the information coming from abroad about the foreign assets has now been made inadmissible after the amendment, adding that the PML-N Quaid, Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter Maryam Nawaz will get “clean chits” in the Avenfield Field case against them.

“Through this amended bill, they have done what they were trying to exert pressure and blackmail me for getting an NRO throughout my entire duration of government. This is now crystal clear that they had nothing to do with the inflation, but their only purpose was giving themselves an NRO and to save the plundered money,” he maintained. He further alleged that by passing the NAB bill, the government has actually issued a license of committing corruption. “This is even a bigger crime than bombarding the country,” he added.

He announced that the PTI would approach the apex court this week against the amended NAB bill and expressed the hope that the judiciary would also take notice in this regard.

“I’m waging this “Jihad” against them and also want the people to join me, as I will give another public call to show where the nation stood on the issue… History will never forgive those who abetted and supported the “conspiracy” to impose this government on the country,” he further maintained.

He said that any country which lacks the rule of law will never embark on the path of development. “What happened in the National Assembly was a big joke with the nation,” he added.

He stated that there should be no person-specific laws, adding that the move would destroy the country as the amendment would protect white-collar criminals from accountability. He said that it was a common problem of the developing world that the elite transfer their money to the developed world through illegal channels.

The PTI chairman alleged that the rulers of the incumbent coalition government sought the first “NRO” from General Musharraf, particularly Asif Ali Zardari in $60 million Swiss money.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022