New NAB chief takes charge; court reopens Zardari cases

Published
4

ISLAMABAD: The new chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), retired Major Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, assumed charge of his office on Friday, and coincidentally, an accountability court reopened six cases against former president Asif Zardari.

The cases had remained dormant because of immunity enjoyed by Mr Zardari during his presidential tenure.

With the appointment of Mr Chaudhry, some politicians have said, cases against top leaders of the PML-N and the PPP will remain dormant because they will not be pursued by NAB.

Former presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar claimed there was no case pending against Mr Zardari because he had been acquitted in all cases. But if the NAB reopened any case against him, the PPP would face it, he added.

The new chairman will also have to decide about pending references, including Rs22 billion Rental Power Projects scam and Rs82 billion Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority scandal. The references are against former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Opinion

Editorial

State of denial
Updated 18 Oct, 2026

State of denial

If the Taliban regime commits to preventing groups based on its soil from attacking neighbouring states, the process of normalisation and regional integration of Afghanistan can begin.
Suffering in silence
18 Oct, 2026

Suffering in silence

TOO many Pakistani children have nowhere to turn when abused online. An estimated 1.5m internet-using children aged...
Export imperative
18 Oct, 2026

Export imperative

THE government’s efforts to boost Pakistan’s external sector through diversified financing, higher foreign...
No talks
Updated 17 Oct, 2026

No talks

The government should understand that the PTI’s protest march and its reaction to it will look like nothing more than a storm in a teacup.
Strengthening LGs
17 Oct, 2026

Strengthening LGs

THE ECP has done well to refuse to allow the Punjab administration to push the local government elections to April....
Lesser citizens
Updated 17 Oct, 2026

Lesser citizens

Interfaith harmony will prevail when the message to end bias is conveyed from the pulpit, alongside efforts to punish zealotry.