Staff Reporter Islamabad
A day after PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz strongly criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and questioned who gave it the right to “judge [her] statements”, the NAB hit back at her remarks on Tuesday.
The watchdog terming her words an attempt to detract attention from ongoing investigations against her.
Taking notice of Maryam’s statements, NAB said in a press release that it was investigating cases related to Maryam’s involvement in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills and money laundering.
It said that after NAB summoned her in a personal capacity, Maryam was “making efforts to create an environment of chaos in the country, besides continuing to give treasonous statements against respectable institutions like NAB, judiciary and law enforcement agencies”.
The primary purpose of these statements was to create obstacles in, and influence, the investigation of cases related to corruption and money laundering against the Sharif family besides promoting conditions that were detrimental to peace, the handout said.
“Through such statements, Maryam Nawaz had been trying to get herself acquitted in ongoing investigations against herself and bring the institutions to a point of confrontation,” it said.
The bureau claimed that Maryam had “challenged law and order by giving inciteful speeches”, citing the violence that had erupted during her appearance at the NAB Lahore office in August last year.
It recalled that a first information report (FIR) had also been registered against Maryam and party workers for the clash in which many people, including some officials, were injured.
However, NAB had decided not to summon Maryam “for a while, keeping in view the overall political situation, her political activities and national interests”.
