Senators on Tuesday expressed concerns over the slow progress of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), saying that the pending 618 inquiries reflected the pathetic performance of the agency in charge of accountability in the country.
Minister for Law and Justice Maula Bakhsh Chandio told the Senate in a written reply during the question-answer session that 618 inquiries were pending with NAB.
MQM Senator Tahir Mushidi said that NAB had failed to complete even two inquiries filed in 2001 and 2002. He said that NAB was wasting public money and not discharging its functions properly. Senator Zahid khan said that millions of rupees had been embezzled in various housing societies across the country, but none had been prosecuted. Replying to another question, the law minister said that none of the pending investigation had been completed during the tenure of previous NAB chairman Justice (r) Syed Deedar Hussain. Chandio said the Election Commission of Pakistan had appointed 20 election tribunals to handle petitions regarding the 2008 general elections, Senate elections and by-elections.
Senator Zahid slammed a written reply that 936 people had been appointed in the last three years in the Law Ministry, with 511 from Punjab, 242 from Sindh, 62 from Khyber Pukhtunkawa, 96 from Balochistan, 10 from FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while 15 were recruited on merit. He said the quota system had been violated as Punjab deserved only 450 jobs. He asked the law minister to explain the remedial measures he took on the issue. The minister replied that the figures were misleading and were misprinted. He asked the Senate chairman to postpone the question until the next session.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar responded that if the figures were erroneous, the minister should have taken the House in confidence before the commencement of the proceedings and that the question should not have been taken up. In response, the minister again pleaded to defer the question until the next session, and Senate Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali accepted the request. The House was also informed that 6.3 million Pakistanis were living overseas in more than 54 countries. Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar informed the Senate in a written reply that around 1,500,000 Pakistanis were living in Saudi Arabia, 1,200,000 in United Kingdom, 1,014,082 in the UAE and 900,000 in the United States. He added that his ministry was working in coordination with the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior to provide facilities and welfare to the overseas Pakistanis.
