Aftab Ahmed Sultan resigns as NAB chairman; PM Shehbaz accepts resignation; lauds his honesty & uprightness
Not following constitution has resulted in political & economic mess we find ourselves in today: Outgoing NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan
ISLAMABAD ( Web News )
In a surprise move, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Aftab Ahmed Sultan has resigned from the post over alleged pressure to pursue some corruption cases.
Aftab Sultan said he had presented his resignation to Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif during a meeting two days ago. He claimed the premier asked him to withdraw the resignation but he refused. He said his resignation had been subsequently accepted.
“I was being told to do the thing that is unacceptable to me,” he said, adding: “I always worked on merit in my professional life”. The outgoing NAB chief said it was not possible for him to forcefully make or end corruption cases against anyone.
“There are always reservations when something bad happens,” he said, adding that he did not want to commit any mistake that could hurt the reputation of the institution. “There were some constraints and I found it better to resign.”
He was appointed as head of the anti-graft body on July 21, 2022, for three years by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government after Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal’s tenure ended last year.
A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Aftab Sultan had presented his resignation to PM Shehbaz Sharif citing personal reasons.
“The prime minister appreciated the services of Aftab Sultan and lauded his honesty and uprightness. Upon his insistence, the prime minister reluctantly accepted the resignation of Sultan,” said the PM Office.
Speaking to a private TV channel, Aftab Sultan said that he had resigned from office a few days ago. “I was asked to do certain things which were not acceptable to me,” Aftab Sultan said.
“I told them that I cannot continue with the conditions. My resignation has been accepted and it comes to an end on a positive note,” he said. “Prime minister expressed good wishes for me, I also have good wishes for him.”
The sources revealed that Sultan had refused to make arrests of politicians on someone’s orders.
“He was pressurised by the government and some other institutions in the last four months to register cases against the people of their choice and arrest them,” they further said.
Aftab Sultan is a law graduate from Punjab University, who later did LLM from the University of Cambridge and also MSc in jurisprudence/legal studies from the University of Edinburgh.
In 2002, as a regional police officer in Sargodha, Sultan refused to assist the administration during the referendum called by then chief executive, retired General Pervez Musharraf. He paid for his defiance when he was made OSD.
He also prepared a 5,000-page report on the directives of the Supreme Court as additional inspector general of police about the famous Bank of Punjab case. The SC had appointed Sultan as the investigation officer after expressing dissatisfaction over the investigations conducted by NAB.
Sultan had retired as the IB head on April 3, 2018, after serving since June 7, 2013.
He served two governments each of the PPP and the PML-N under four prime ministers — Yousuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Not following constitution has resulted in political & economic mess we find ourselves in today: Outgoing NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan
The outgoing Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Aftab Ahmed Sultan has said that not following the constitution has resulted in the political and economic mess we find ourselves in today.
In his farewell address to the NAB officers, the outgoing Chairman NAB Aftab Sultan said that he has decided to resign as Chairman.
He said he was extremely happy and satisfied that he was able to uphold his principles and not bowed to any pressure.
He said throughout his life and professional career he tried to act according to law and never compromised on his principles. He said our constitution provided solutions to all our problems.
Aftab Sultan said every political government is mandated by the people to complete its 5 years term and no individual or group is authorized to remove a government in the name of national interest. He said continuity of political process and elections was essential.
Aftab Sultan said that he can not initiate a false case against anyone nor can drop an established reference against someone merely on the grounds that the culprit is relative of some big shot. He said he had complete faith in the young officers of NAB to uphold the principles of high moral values and the rule of law.