The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday said that it had recorded the statements of three retired military officers and two civilians in a case related to alleged fraudulent allotment of 141 kanals of Pakistan Railways land in Lahore to the management of the Royal Palm Golf Club.
The bureau moreover stated that a report pertaining to the case would be submitted before the court upon the completion of the probe.
The former military officers whose statements were recorded are: Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, Lt-Gen (retd) Saeeduz Zafar and Maj-Gen (retd) Hamid Hassan Butt
The three had been summoned by NAB for their alleged involvement in the leasing out of railways land in 2001, reportedly causing a loss of over Rs10 billion to the national exchequer.
The two civilians, whose statements were recorded, are: Khursheed Ahmad Khan, former finance member, and Iqbal Samad Khan, ex-general manager (operations), of Pakistan Railways
The NAB moreover stated that it would not fixing responsibility upon anyone and was simply probing the allotment.
It said the probe report would be submitted to the court which was the body mandated to finding responsibility in the case.
This is a cop out by NAB. It is not acceptable that each the Supreme Court has to point out irregularities, Shouldn't NAB and other investigation agencies s be looking into such matters? Perhaps the heads of these organizations are too busy pleasing their bosses to gain favours or extensions!
It is not the court's responsibility to fix blame and bring charges. The court is supposed to adjudicate, whether charges brought against the accused are just.
It is the job of investigation agencies like NAB to investigate and bring charges against those who may have caused losses to the State whether through bribery or illegal activities.
If NAB is not willing to perform its functions, then it should be packed up and its Chairman sent home.
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