NAB CHAIRMAN AFTAB SULTAN RESIGNS.

Islamabad: According to ARY News, Aftab Sultan resigned as National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) chairman on Tuesday, citing personal reasons.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office, Sultan had handed the resignation letter to Shehbaz Sharif.

"The prime minister acknowledged Aftab Sultan's contributions and praised his integrity and honesty. Sultan's resignation was grudgingly accepted by the prime minister after his demand, according to the PM Office.

According to sources, Aftab Sultan resigned from his position because "he was an appeal to do some things that were not allowable to him."

In addition to information from the sources, Sultan had specific issues with the National Accountability (Amendment) Act, 2022, which confined the authority of the anti-corruption agency.

The PDM government named Aftab Sultan, a former DG of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in July last year. EX Justice Javed Iqbal, who oversaw the NAB for 4 years and 3 months, has succeeded him.

Sultan retired in BPS-22 after serving in the police department. Throughout the PPP and PML-N administrations, as well as under Pervez Musharraf, he held important positions, including intelligence bureau (IB) chief.

With Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he was named in a NAB referral that was granted against him for irregularities in purchasing automobiles for the SAARC conference. The national exchequer lost Rs. 1.95 billion due to the referral, which also involved Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry.

The referral was authorized in 2020, but no charges were ever brought against them.

Legal NAB

The National Assembly passed changes to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 in May to limit the National Accountability Bureau's authority. (NAB).

The accountability Ordinance has undergone numerous revisions, according to law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, who introduced the bill, to limit the authority of the accountability bureau.

He had described the main changes and stated that they would prevent arrests before the conclusion of the investigation process and provide the suspect the option to get bail. Therefore, the 90-day remand period was also eliminated.

He stated that the new 14-day remand period was for terrorists only and that no defamation campaigns may be launched until the suspect was found guilty. Tarar had informed the lower house that the assets beyond the means case could not be utilized for political purposes.