Ex-PM Gilani dares authorities to arrest him for scam

I enjoy complete immunity for work done in my tenure as the Prime Minister, says Gilani

Former Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza Gilani today dared authorities to arrest him for an alleged scam in a state-run insurance company though his lawyer appeared before investigators hours later.

"I'll see how anyone arrests me...The NAB (National Accountability Bureau) chairman is himself summoned (by court), how can he summon me?" he told a news conference in his hometown of Multan.

Gilani said he gave up the post of Prime Minister for the sake of former President Asif Ali Zardari's immunity, and provisions of Article 248 of the Constitution granted him immunity for his actions while serving as premier.

He made the remarks after the NAB sought assistance from police in Multan to send a notice to the former premier for recording his statement in a probe into the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam.

Hours later, TV news channels reported that Gilani's lawyer appeared before NAB officials in connection with the case.

Gilani was accused of illegally appointing Ayaz Khan Niazi as NICL's chairman in February 2009, when he was the Prime Minister.

He has also been accused of issuing orders in 2011 for the transfer of Federal Investigation Agency chief Zafar Ahmed Qureshi, who was investigating the scam.

But Gilani said: "I enjoy complete immunity for work done in my tenure as the Prime Minister."

He further said that if former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had been jailed for even a month, he would have accepted that Pakistan's judiciary is independent.

Gilani, who belongs to the Pakistan People's Party, said NAB had been questioning him about PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi's alleged role in the NICL scam.

He said Elahi, the son of former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, had been acquitted but NAB was trying to drag him into the matter.