NAB chairman to appear before Public Accounts Committee on Dec 7

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (Retired) Javed Iqbal has shown agreement to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), ARY News reported on Thursday.

The PAC Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain said in a statement that the NAB chairman will appear before the committee on December 7. Earlier, the PAC had issued a show-cause notice to the NAB chairman following his absence despite being summoned multiple times.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said that the NAB chairman showed his availability on December 7. He said that the role of the parliament and PAC should be maintained. Hussain said that they will prefer to resign if the dignity of the committees was not maintained.

A PAC member Noor Alam Khan said that they have no personal enmity with the NAB chairman.

The committee ordered the environment ministry to remove encroachments from Margala Hills National Park and summoned a report from the concerned ministry and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in the next session.

Yesterday, the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had decided to serve notice to Chairman NAB over failing to attend the PAC hearing.

“After serving notice to the NAB chairman, the PAC will exercise its powers to issue his arrest warrant,” PAC Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain had warned.

“Every power, with the parliamentary body, will be used, if necessary to summon the Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” PAC chief had said.

The committee had expressed its resentment over the absence of the Secretary PM Office, Secretary President Secretariat and the chairman NAB in the PAC session.

“Chairman NAB could not attend the PAC session due to the Missing Persons Committee meeting in Lahore,” DG NAB Hussain Ahmed had said in the parliamentary committee’s session.

Chairman PAC Rana Tanveer had sent the DG NAB out of the parliamentary committee’s session. “Leave the session and immediately call the chairman NAB, and tell him to come to the PAC session next week at any cost,” chairman public accounts committee ordered.

The PAC chairman had also rebuked Additional Secretary to the PM Office Nadeem Mehmood and Additional Secretary to the President’s Secretariat Waqas Ahmed over the absence of their secretaries from the PAC meeting.