Nawaz serves defamation notice on NAB chairman

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has served a defamation notice to the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) following allegations of money laundering against him.

Nawaz’s counsel, Barriser Munawar Duggal, authored and submitted the legal notice to chairman NAB Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. The notice demanded an apology within 14 days from the NAB chief over the false allegations, and to pay an amount Rs one billion in damages on account of defamatory statement.

It further demands to publish a comprehensive and proper apology, and a retraction in two English daily and two Urdu daily newspapers with nationwide circulation and also to broadcast the apology, and pay a sum of Rs one billion in damages.

The notice also highlights the dismissal of such allegations by the State Bank of Pakistan, and the World Bank’s 2016 report on the subject. The State Bank had rejected the outflow to India as remittances terming the report contrary to the facts.

According to the notice, the PML-N had during a presser on May 9 rejected allegations of laundering $4.9 billion to India, and had demanded resignation of the NAB chairman.

It further said that the press release by NAB had exposed Nawaz to unjust criticism, ridicule and dislike from all quarters, and a lifetime of integrity, patriotism and dedication has been seriously tarnished by irresponsible and malicious publication transmitted on different TV channels and in the press

This apart from causing irreparable damage to his reputation has caused severe mental agony and bad repute to him, the legal notice added further.

On May 8, the NAB chairman ordered an investigation over money laundering allegations against Nawaz Sharif, who is already facing several corruption cases in an accountability court.

The PML-N moved swiftly to denounce the allegations. Nawaz Sharif called NAB chairman’s resignation, while incumbent prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi demanded the parliament to summon and seek an explanation.

National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice had summoned NAB chairman, who had expressed his inability to appear due to other commitments. On May 12, a petition was also filed seeking removal of the NAB chairman for leveling allegations of money laundering against Nawaz Sharif.