A new trend has started in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Punjab Investigation Wing, as investigation officers have started to avoid appearing in accountability courts during the hearing of their relevant references, causing unnecessary delay and adjournments in proceedings, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Although accountability courts were issuing non-bail able arrest warrants, even then, NAB investigation officers were not bothering about the court decorum. On Saturday, an accountability court in Lahore issued non-bail able arrest warrants of investigation officer Riaz Khan due to his non-appearance in court during the hearing of his relevant references against Falak Sher.
Earlier, on August 30, an accountability court had issued non-bail able arrest warrants of NAB Punjab Investigation Officer Yasir Malik on basis of his absence during the trial of Zafar Yaseen.
Another accountability court on August 23 issued non-bail able arrest warrants of NAB Punjab Deputy Director and Investigation Officer Muhammad Rafi on the basis of his absence during the trial of Sheikh Sultan Ahmed. Muhammad Rafi’s non-bail able arrest warrant was repeated on August 26 during hearing of a reference filed against Abdul Haleem Qureshi, a senior officer of the Punjab Irrigation Department. Rafi once again failed to appear in court to conduct the hearing.
The trend of non-appearing in courts among NAB investigation officers was taking place due to the ad-hoc policy adopted by the government regarding appointment of NAB’s senior management such as the chairman and prosecutor general, Pakistan Today has learnt. Former NAB prosecutor Adnan Shuja Butt said that due to non-appointment of top management in NAB, investigation officers were also free from the fear of any check and balance within the organisation. This was why they were not taking the matter seriously.