ISLAMABAD, JAN 24: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar announced on Monday that he had resigned from his post, but said that he would still remain associated with the PTI.

Taking to Twitter, Akbar said that he had tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I sincerely hope the process of accountability continues under the leadership of PM Imran as per the PTI’s manifesto. I will remain associated with the party and keep contributing as a member of the legal fraternity,” he said.

Akbar — a former deputy prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) — was appointed as the special assistant to the prime minister on accountability and interior in August 2018.

In July 2020, Akbar was appointed as an adviser to the prime minister with the same portfolio.

He is the founder, legal director and a trustee of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, an organisation that works “towards the advancement, protection and enforcement of fundamental human rights”.

Akbar, who played a key role in the Panama Papers leak-related money laundering cases in which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was convicted, had been tasked with bringing the PML-N supremo back to Pakistan and pursuing the various corruption cases against opposition leaders.

Reacting to the development, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Akbar worked under “tremendous pressure”.

“It was never easy to take on mafias but the way you worked and handled cases is admirable. More important work is now awaiting you,” he said.