A case of incompetence and twisted interests
There is a certain level of inertia in ever bureaucracy, and then there is our bureaucracy, determined to make sure that nothing ever gets done. Anything that the politicians, by any chance, get agreed to do, our specific brand of bureaucracy becomes hyperactive or gets stuck in a rut. In either case, it is the country, institutions, and democratic process that get affected. The most recent example: NAB first jumping in on labeling former OGRA Chairman Tauqeer Sadiq corrupt, with ludicrous allegations, and then softening down on its stance once it failed to produce any concrete evidence.
The NAB’s performance, and indeed its very existence, has been under question for long. Its tendency to exaggerate its claims has led it to eat its words often. Unrealistic claims and making issues out of nowhere is what it has been doing. This does not mean that it has not done some good work, but that is an exception, not the rule. So the question then becomes how come it bungled the latest episode. The answer is simple: in an effort to pronounce its performance the NAB issued a statement that the former OGRA chairman was involved in corruption to the amount of Rs82 billion, an amount that stunned many and is almost impossible to go missing without being noticed in the first place. But that is exactly what the agency tried to make the public believe in. However, now that it has not been able to prove it, it is in trouble even if the accusations were true. The SC is insistent that it proceeded with its case, and if it cannot back its allegations up with actionable evidence, it might have to take back its words and face humiliation.
Another aspect of the issue that needs to be understood is the fact that although politicians have been irresponsible in appointing incompetent cronies on powerful posts, equally irresponsible is the policy of the NAB to overstate their misdeeds to play to the gallery. Unless an agency, an investigating agency on that, is unbiased and unprejudiced, it cannot fulfill its duties properly. NAB is already facing criticism for becoming a tool at the hands of respective governments; it cannot afford to lose what little credibility it has been left with.
