Declaring his NTN (1692096), he said that he had been paying taxes since 1977. He said that if that group did not apologise, he would approach the apex court. Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said the media group's politician-bashing had gone far beyond freedom of expression.
He said that he, his wife and sons regularly paid their taxes and it could be verified directly from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He said that his NTN number was 0332811-2. He said that this issue should be referred to the privilege or finance committee of the house, urging them to summon the journalist concerned to give an explanation.
Stressing the need for properly investigating issues before publishing any news, Malik Abrar of PML-N said that the media should also identify feudals, mill owners and businessmen who were not paying taxes. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of PML-N said that the House had the power to impose taxes on others, if its own members were not paying taxes then there would be no moral justification to blame others. He suggested that the House should pass a resolution, binding all lawmakers to submit their tax declarations every year to the Election Commission or other proper forum.
Nadeem Afzal Gondal said that the media group itself was a tax defaulter. He said that anchorpersons of private TV channels discussed about politicians, accusing them of not submitting income tax returns, but they never discussed about tax evasion of owners of big plazas, industrialists and capitalists. He also criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), saying that it was merely pointing out the obvious, adding that if corruption was so pervasive, "why it is not arresting people who are involved in it?"