Senior lawyer awaits hearing on Supreme Judicial Council reference against Chairman NAB

ISLAMABAD: There is a reference pending at the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, said lawyer Chaudhry Mohammad Saeed Zafar on Tuesday. 

Zafar revealed on Geo News programme 'Capital Talk' hosted by Hamid Mir that he had filed a reference against the NAB chairman last year when a video scandal involving the retired judge came to light.

In response to a question, he said that the reference pertained to a video that had leaked last year in which a man named Farooq Nol and a woman, Tayyaba Gul, were pressurizing NAB officials to do their bidding by associating themselves with Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal.

Zafar said that when the matter came to the NAB chairman's notice, he had Nol and Gul arrested to sweep the matter under the rug.

"Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal did not issue any denial [of the matter]," said Zafar. "Hence, I requested the Supreme Judicial Council to have a forensic audit of the video conducted so that the truth is revealed."

Zafar said that the reference was pending at the SJC and when the hearing takes place on the reference, he will present himself before council to present his objections so that hearing of the reference commences.

Read more: Reference filed against central characters behind NAB chairman's audio-video scandal

NAB had filed a reference against the two individuals in an accountability court last year in May, saying that they were behind an audio-video scandal of Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. 

The NAB had said that it received six complaints against Gul and Nol, and 36 witnesses had recorded their statements against them.