Three ministers face graft probe

PM Imran orders inquiry into allegations against his aides

ISLAMABAD: Three members of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet are facing graft charges and may be shown the door if the allegations proved true, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The prime minister has ordered an inquiry into the corruption allegations levelled against his three aides, sources said, without naming the trio.

The revelation came from none other than the PM himself at a meeting of the federal cabinet on Friday.



According to the sources, at the conclusion of the cabinet meeting, the PM asked all government officials to leave the meeting room. He then made the shocking disclosure to his cabinet members.

Participants of the meeting included federal ministers, ministers of state, advisers and special assistants to the prime minister. The revelation, said the sources, left all of them dazed.

Prime Minister Imran told the meeting that he received preliminary reports about financial corruption against the three ministers, and that he had given the go-ahead for a formal inquiry into the allegations.

“If the allegations are proven during the inquiry, no leniency will be shown to the ministers in question and they will be sacked,” said Imran, according to the sources.

He went on to say that he had struggled tirelessly against financial corruption for 22 long years and would never compromise on the issue, said the sources.

The shocking revelation came a day after the prime minister told a select group of television anchorpersons that his government had a policy of zero tolerance on corruption.

He said that no corrupt politician or official would escape accountability and that everyone would be held accountable for their financial wrongdoing.



“Nobody will be offered an NRO,” he said, referring to the National Reconciliation Ordinance – a law introduced by former military dictator Pervez Musharraf allegedly to offer immunity to politicians against their financial wrongdoings.

Referring to a slew of graft cases against the Sharif brothers, he said none of those cases was filed by the PTI government.

“NAB is an independent institution. The government has not intervened in its investigations,” he said, adding that all the cases against the Sharifs had been framed during the tenure of the previous government.