Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog chief refuses to toe the line of government, resigns

The chief of Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog has resigned after he was asked to do "certain things" by the federal government that were "unacceptable to him," media reports said on Tuesday. Aftab Sultan, the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was appointed in July last year for a tenure of three years following the retirement of his predecessor Javed Iqbal.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Sultan submitted his resignation citing "personal reasons."

In an interview with Geo TV, Sultan said he stepped down a few days ago because he asked to do "certain things that were unacceptable to me".


It was immediately not clear what orders he refused to accept from the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

According to sources, he was apparently asked by federal government officials to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including its chief Imran Khan.

Reacting to Sultan's resignation, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said it was a big step towards the collapse of a "fascist system."

A law graduate from Punjab University, Sultan pursued LLM from the University of Cambridge.

Sultan also completed MSc in legal studies from the University of Edinburgh.

He then served in the police service and earned the reputation of being an honest officer.

In 2018, he was appointed as the chief of the Intelligence Bureau.