ISLAMABAD: Reversing the last government’s shelving of cases against certain politicians and bureaucrats, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has reactivated over 300 high-profile cases, sources in the NAB have told Dawn.
Affecting politicians belonging to the PPP, MQM, PML-Q and even the PML-N, the reopened cases includes those against Naheed Khan, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Aslam Bizenjo and Khawaja Riaz Mehmood, the in-charge of the Open Kutchery Cell of the last PML-N government.
The decision to reopen pending cases has been made in the light of recommendations given recently by the NAB’s special committee on pending cases.
“These cases remained unattended due to different reasons for the last four years and they are still in inquiry or investigation stages and none of them has so far been sent to the accountability court,” a senior official of the NAB who did not want to be named said.
Former NAB chairman retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari had told media persons at a press conference that he wanted to reopen pending cases of politicians but the then president (Asif Ali Zardari) stopped him from doing so and directed him to keep the file of pending cases under his table.
The NAB’s special committee on pending cases had given one to four weeks to the regional headquarters of the NAB to send their report regarding further action on pending cases.
Responding to a question about cases of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari, the spokesman said their cases, being tried by the NAB, did not fall in the category of pending cases because they were already being tried in the courts.
“These cases are being dealt by another committee,” he said.