NAB chairman harassment scandal sparks chaotic debate in Pakistan's National Assembly

The National Assembly of Pakistan on Monday saw a turmoil-filled session between the government and the opposition on a video scandal involving National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman who allegedly harassed a woman and the Pakistan Citizen Portal (PCP) who dropped her complaint, declaring it 'beyond jurisdiction'.

The National Assembly of Pakistan on Monday saw a turmoil-filled session between the government and the opposition on a video scandal involving National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman who allegedly harassed a woman and the Pakistan Citizen Portal (PCP) who dropped her complaint, declaring it 'beyond jurisdiction'. According to the Express Tribune, the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) demanded that the NAB video scandal should be handed to a standing committee while the treasury benches said that the move was a tactic to pressurise the bureau and its chairman.

Woman lawmakers gathered around NA Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser's desk and pointed out quorum after they were ignored. During the question hour of the assembly, PPP's Abdul Qadir Patel said that a woman named Tayyaba Khatun had filed a harassment petition against the NAB chairman on the citizen portal but she was told that the complaint was sent to the Ministry of Human Rights.

Mentioning that the NAB chairman was claiming to be 'blackmailed' through scandal, Patel said that "NAB does not come under anyone's jurisdiction". In May 2019, the audio and video clips relating to the alleged conduct of the NAB chairman with regard to the woman facing investigation by NAB authorities had taken politico-media by storm, reported The Express Tribune.

The House was informed on Monday that a complaint on May 10, 2019 was submitted by a citizen wherein she alleged that "chairman NAB is harassing me-n [and] my family. He is making fake cases against me n my husband just because I didn't make any relation wid [with] him. NAB is threatening me. I am a law student. How he disrespect a woman like this. He is a morally ill person. I have all vdos [videos] and audio recordings against him; I am attaching some screenshots of vdos". The complainant was later informed that her complaint "does not qualify to be processed through Pakistan Citizen Portal (PCP)".

Meanwhile, PPP's Shahida Rehmani said that a parliamentary committee should be formed or it should be sent to the Human Rights Committee for investigation. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan defended the portal and alleged that the opposition wanted to use the National Assembly to pressurise the NAB chairman for which he did not want to send the matter to a committee.

The Express Tribune reported that the speaker showed less interest in the opposition parties' demand and after the prayer break, the government failed to complete the quorum again, leading Qaiser to postpone the session. (ANI)

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