NAB chAirmAN resigNs After ‘refusiNg to tArget’ imrAN

PROFILE: Su tan who be ongs to the fourth police common, thrice ser ved as the IB chairman most recently between June 2013 and April 2018 and before that remained head of the Punjab police from April to May 2013 In Februar y 2018 Khan accused him of ass sting the Pakistan Musl m League-nawaz (PML-n) n select ng its cand dates for the genera elections

Su tan, Khan had sa d, was a “ member ” of the Sharif fam ly s “gang ” , which was why he had been given an extension of ser v ce for a third time He alleged the IB ch ef had been told by the PML-n leadership to m nutely obser ve which PML-n candidate could w n their constituencies

Govt maintains additional customs, regulatory duties on imported cars iSLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t

Aftab Sultan, chairman of the nat ona Accountability Bureau (nAB) has resigned from h s position reportedly after refusing to comply w th the Pak stan democrat c Movement (PdM) government which had allegedly asked h m to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan S u l t a n a f o r m e r d r e c t o r- g e n e r a l o f the Inte ligence Bureau, was appo nted to the post in July of last year for a none x t e n d a b l e p e r i o d o f t h r e e y e a r s b u t c a m e a t o d d s w i t h c e r t a i n q u a r t e r s o f the state apparatus which prompted h s departure According to geo news Sultan was asked to per form “certain [tasks] wh ch were not acceptable to me following which he tendered his res gnation to the prime minister

I had resigned from office a few days ago I told them that I can’t continue with the condit ons Aftab Sultan told a private TV channel Sources revea ed that Aftab Sultan resigned from h s office after he was asked to do certa n things which were not acceptab e to him ”

Journalist Mubashir Zaidi said the former policeman resigned primarily because he refused to bui d a case aga nst the chairman of the opposition Pak stan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party

I told them that I cannot cont nue w th the cond tions My resignation has been accepted and t comes to an end on a pos tive note Sultan said as reported by geo news “ The prime m nister expressed good wishes for me and I also have good wishes for him

Separate y, a statement issued by the Prime Minister s Office (PMO) read Sultan had presented his resignation to Shehbaz Sharif, cit ng personal reasons “ The prime minister appreciated the ser vices of Mr Aftab Sultan and auded his honesty and uprightness upon his insistence the prime min ster re uctantly accepted the resignation of Mr Su tan,” t added

Responding to the development Fawad Chaudhr y sen or v ce president of the party, said the move s a big step towards the collapse of the fascist system a reference to the government Sultan resigned due to [po itical] inter ference in h s work I call on those 22 c vi ser vants [who the party c a ms are biased against it] who have been appointed to nter vene in Punjab [on behalf of the federal government] to separate themselves from this regime It is in the interest of both the countr y and the civil ser vice,” he tweeted

Interestingly at the time of his appointment Su tan h mse f was a suspect in a reference that the d rty money watchdog approved n 2020 aga nst former prime minister nawaz Sharif for the “ i legal ” purchase of 73 h gh-security vehicles for the security of foreign dignitaries

The suspects are accused of favouritism and llegal use of vehicles caus ng a loss of over Rs1 952 million to the national exchequer NAB suMMONs IMRAN, sPOusE, PTI LEAdERs ON MAR 9: The national Accountabi ity Bureau (nAB) has summoned Bushra Bibi the wife of former prime m nister Imran Khan, and other Pak stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eaders in the Toshakhana case on Tuesday Accord ng to deta ls, the accountability watchdog summoned Bushra Bibi and three other PTI leaders – Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhr y and Per vez Khattak – on March 9

According to sources, the nAB has decided to send the nvestigation team to united Arab Em rates (uAE) for probe into Toshakhana case

Ear ier in the day the national Accountabil ty Bureau (nAB) summoned former prime minister Imran Khan in Toshakhana case on March 9 The PTI cha rman has been asked to appear before the anti-corruption watchdog on March 9 at 2:30 pm

Former Punjab chief minister Chaudhr y Per vaiz E ahi on Tuesday announced join ng the PTI along with ten other former MPAs of the Pak stan Muslim Leaque-Qua d (PML-Q)

Addressing a press conference in Lahore alongs de PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhr y Elahi said he had always stood w th former prime m nister Imran Khan during hard and test ng t mes “

Per vaiz E ahi s quitting the PMLQ and is o ning the PTI Fawad Chaudhr y confirmed to the media

He sa d Ch per vaiz Elahi also met the PTI chairman in this regard adding that the party appreciates the role played by the PML-Q

Per vaiz E ahi has the support of Moonis Elahi and Hussain Elahi too,” he said and added: There were two opt ons- either to merge the PML-Q w th PTI or they jo n PTI ” Fawad Ch welcomed the new PTI members in the party On the occasion, he also high ighted that no one knew the whereabouts of Zaigham Khan and Muhammad Khan Bhatti so far

We w i s t a n d t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e n e w P T I m e m b e r s, ” h e s a i d, a d d i n g t h a t E l a h s n a m e h a d b e e n a p p r o v e d f o r t h e r o l e o f P T I s c e n t r a p r e s i d e n t Ta king to the media Ch Per vaiz E ahi lashed out at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for shutting down the health card He sa d no such step would be taken that harms the PTI ’s reputation adding that he will work wherever Imran wishes for h m too

Responding to a question pertain ng to f he was given a h nt by the establishment to join PTI Elahi said: “ If the establishment has given a hint t s good I tr y that ever yone moves along together ”

Elah earlier v sited and held a meeting w th Imran at h s Zaman Park residence that was attended by sen or party leaders from both sides

Elahi had on Januar y 15 addressed a possible merger of the PML-Q with the PTI and said his party ’s decision wou d sur face after the r consu tative meeting to thrash out the proposal

At another point, Elahi was more cand d in his response say ng his son Moon s E ahi a so wanted both parties to merge and proceed in po itics with a consensus Any such merger will strengthen the party, Elahi had said

A day later on Jan 16 PML-Q President Chaudhr y Shujaat had sent a show-cause not ce to Elahi and suspended h s membership over h s comments regarding the party s possible merger with the PTI It said that the PML-Q as a pol i t i c a l p a r t y, h a s i t s o w n i d e n t i t y, v o t e b a n k p a r t y d s c i p l i n e a n d m a n i f e s t o w h c h w e r e a l l v olated by E ahi s comments If any o f t h e m w a n t e d t o j o i n a n o t h e r p a r t y t h e n t h e y s h o u l d r e l i n q u i s h the r pos tions and resign other wise the PML-Q wou d have no other opt i o n b u t t o a p p r o a c h t h e E l e c t i o n Comm ssion of Pakistan to de-seat them,” it had added

Govt expects rollover of funds within next few days

pR Ofit REpORt

The federa government is expecting a ro lover by the weekend as informed by secretar y finance to the national Assemb y Finance comm ttee on Tuesday

Secretar y Finance Hamid Yaqoob further stated that the government has met 90% pr or actions and s expecting staff level agreement any time He high ighted that Ithe nternational Monetar y Fund s (IMF) ma or cond tion about reforming power sector will be achieved with the help of Rs 170 bil ion tax collection

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue dr Aisha ghaus Pasha assured the committee that the government has devised a plan aimed at mplementing macroeconomic and structural po icies with a view to minimize economic imbalances, fostering long-lasting nclusive growth and generating employment opportun ties

She mentioned that the delay in the 9th review of the IMF was a result of a mutual agreement between the Fund and the government She also raised the issue of pending humanitarian aid assistance for flood-related incidents for the current fiscal year as well as those of prior ty rehab litat on expenditure, since September, 2022 ghaus apprised the committee to concentrate on assisting the Finance division in adopt ng measures related to structura econom c reforms strategies for mit gating circular debt and recuperating osses related to the power sector, and devising susta nab e economic polic es aimed at benefiting the general popu ace of Pakistani soc ety

The committee suggested that the Finance div sion and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) formulate po icies to bolster domestic industries that rely on the mportat on of raw mater als from nternational markets and to a d importers in clearing their commodities from Custom Author ties during the meeting, the chairman of the FBR expressed confidence that the agency is pursuing the correct course of action to collect the anticipated tax revenue of Rs 7 47 tril ion for the present fiscal year

The Committee expressed its d ssatsfact on with the delay in appointing Heads for the national Bank of Pakistan (nBP) and Zara Taraqiat Bank Limited (ZTBL), which has remained unresolved for nearly a year