NAB committed for corruption free Pakistan: Chairman

• Javed Iqbal says NAB is committed for elimination of corruption for corruption free Pakistan.
• The chairman says NAB has devised an effective Anti-Corruption Strategy for eradication of corruption.

KARACHI: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said that NAB was committed for elimination of corruption for corruption free Pakistan by adopting "Accountability for All" policy with iron hands.

Chairing a meeting to review performance of NAB Karachi, he said that NAB had devised an effective Anti-Corruption Strategy for eradication of corruption which had started yielding excellent results, according to a statement.

Chief of the premier anti-corrution organization of the country further said that NAB had perfected its procedures and had rejuvenated after taking new initiatives. In order to rationalize the workload, timelines had been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases putting a maximum limit of 10 months- from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to-investigation and finally to a reference in the Accountability Court. In order to ensure uniformity and standardization, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for investigation officers (I0s) in vogue were reviewed and revised after a gap of 10 years in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers, a system of CIT comprising of Director, Additional Director, Investigation Officer and a Senior Legal Counsel had been put in place.

Justice Javed Iqbal said that NAB had signed MoU with China to oversee CPEC projects. NAB had also signed MoU with Higher Education Commission in order to aware youth about the ill effects of corruption at an early age.

He added that over 50 thousands Character Building Societies have been established in colleges and universities of the country.

The NAB Chairman said that Transparency International (TI), PILDAT, Mishal, and World Economic forum also appreciated NAB's efforts in eradication of corruption. The Gillani and Gallop survey said that 59 percent people had shown trust upon NAB.

He said that the bureau had devised a comprehensive Quantified Grading System in order to further improve the performance of NAB Headquarter and all Regional Bureaus. Under Quantified Grading System, NAB Headquarter and Regional Bureau's were being evaluated on Annual and Midterm basis at a given criteria which had proved very successful.

Justice Javed Iqbal also appreciated the excellent performance of NAB Karachi under the supervision of DG NAB Karachi Brig (R) Farooq Naser Awan.

Earlier, NAB Karachi Director General (DG) Brig (R) Farooq Naser Awan in his briefing to Chairman NAB informed that NAB Karachi from October 11, 2018 to date filed corruption references against Dr. Asim, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Agha Siraj Durrani and Kamran Micheal which were under trial in Accountability Courts, said a statement.

He informed that NAB Karachi received 9887 complaints in 2018-19 and has completed/disposed of 346 complaint verifications in 2018-19 to date. NAB Karachi completed/disposed of 208 inquiries in 2018-19 till October 2019.

NAB DG said that NAB Karachi filled 65 corruption references in 2018-19 in respected Accountability Courts Karachi whereas 28 corruption references were ready for filling after approval of the Chairman NAB.

Brig (R) Farooq Naser Awan said that 159 accused persons were arrested by NAB Karachi during 2019 and helped in the arrest of 32 accused persons of other regional bureaus of NAB.

He said that NAB Karachi recovered Rs. 729.669 million in 2017-18 and Rs. 3423.222 million in 2018-2019 through plea bargain after approval of Accountability Courts. The overall conviction ratio of NAB Karachi in Accountability Courts was about 84 percent.