PM does not wish to remove NAB Chairman Javed Iqbal: Farogh Naseem

KARACHI: Law Minister Farogh Naseem has said that the prime minister and opposition leader can remove National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Javed Iqbal through consultation, but Imran Khan does not wish so.

The law minister said so while speaking on Geo News' programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath'. He said no allegations has been levelled against the NAB chief which could suggest that he is a dishonest person.

"The NAB chairman is an honest man and the anti-graft body needs such a person," Naseem said. "The government has neither pressurised the NAB, nor will it do so."

He maintained that the anti-corruption watchdog has been independently functioning and it should be allowed to work freely.

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The minister said that reports have been surfacing that the viral video of the woman is fake, adding, "The husband and wife intend to make inquiry against them controversial".

He also said that there was nothing controversial about a recent interview of the NAB chief.

Naseem said the NAB chairman should be allowed to do his job the way he has been impartially doing it.

"The prime minister and opposition leader can remove the NAB chief through consultation, but Imran Khan does not wish anything like that," he said on the show.

The minister further said if the government and opposition were both pressurising a person and the said person was not taking that pressure into account, then it shows that he is a better person.

"An impartial and honest person should be given a chance," Naseem concluded.

A day ago, audio and video clips of Javed Iqbal with a woman went viral after a private news channel aired a story on the NAB chief.

NAB rebuts private news channel's story on Chairperson Javed Iqbal

'This is a group of blackmailers aiming to damage repute of NAB, its chief', the anti-graft body says in a statement

The anti-graft body refuted the contents of the story on its chairman, describing it to be "against the facts, fabricated and based on lies".

"This is a group of blackmailers aiming to damage the repute of the NAB, chairman NAB," it said, adding that the watchdog has apprehended two individuals, "despite pressure".

"There are 42 FIRs registered against this blackmailer group," the NAB noted further in its statement, adding that there is evidence present against the said group pertaining to its involvement in blackmailing and kidnapping for ransom.

"There has also been evidence against this group for defrauding people," it said. The anti-corruption watchdog also said the story was an attempt to avoid a NAB reference through blackmailing.

It added that the mastermind of the said blackmailer group, Farooq, is currently detained at Kot Lakhpat prison.