Ex-NAB chief summoned in Tayyaba harassment case

Victim complains of being subjected to rape by Iqbal, other anti-graft body officials

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection against Harassment (FOSPAH) on Saturday summoned former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal in the Tayyaba Gul harassment case on Jan 16.

The notices were issued to Iqbal and 11 others as FOSPAH Chairperson Fauzia Viqar conducted the hearing of a case filed by Tayyaba back in 2022, wherein she had complained of being subjected to sexual harassment and rape by the former NAB head and other officials of the anti-graft body.

In her complaint, Tayyaba — whose controversial video with the former NAB chairman had surfaced in 2019 — had levelled serious allegations against Iqbal accusing him of sexual harassment during her visit to the anti-graft body’s office — an allegation vehemently denied by the former NAB head.

“When I was presented before Director General (DG) NAB Shehzad Saleem, my clothes were torn off on his directions and my body had to sustain bruises because of the search,” Tayyaba said.

“Javed Iqbal would tell me that he will destroy my life within a minute,” she had told the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Claiming that she met the then-NAB chief during a meeting regarding missing persons, Tayyaba lamented that she was allegedly filmed and the videos were shown to her husband.

Meanwhile, the former NAB head — citing Tayyaba’s medical report submitted to the NAB Court of Special Judge Syed Najamul Hassan — termed her a “fraud”, dismissing the allegations levelled against him.

In her statement at the FOSPAH, Tayyaba accused Iqbal of blackmailing and coercing her for “indecent acts” in return for her application to be heard.

As per Tayyaba, she was taken to Lahore after being arrested by investigation officer Imran Dogar, who along with other officials from the anti-graft body, harassed and raped her.

She also claimed that upon her refusal to conform to such preposterous demands, the former NAB chairman not only threatened her with regards to not addressing her application but also that DG NAB Saleem arrested her after registering a false case against her on Iqbal’s orders.

Tayyaba has been served with a legal notice by Saleem seeking Rs100 million in a damages.

“My husband was told to keep quiet [and was] threatened with the release of [my] videos,” Tayyaba said in her statement, while calling for stern action to be taken against Iqbal, Saleem, Dogar, and others.

Upon recording Tayyaba’s statement, the FOSPAH issued notices to the accused directing them to appear in a personal capacity and record their statements on Jan 16, in response to the allegations levelled against them.