Says NAB not proceeding against past govts despite the presence of documentary evidence
Tells ‘friends in Sindh’ that Punjab govt is cooperating fully with NAB in Punjab
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that while the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was not acting in corruption cases of the previous (PML-Q) government in Punjab in spite of the fact that there was documentary evidence available regarding the corruption scandals during that era.
Addressing the ceremony held in connection with the launch of the Punjab Land Record Management Information System at Aiwan-e-Iqbal, the chief minister said that while NAB had been looking into several matters in Punjab for the last several months, it had not taken any action against all the corruption that was done under Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorial rule.
He said that the Punjab government had extended full support to NAB in its investigation process. Sharif said that he wanted to make it clear to his friends in Sindh who say that a hue and cry is made whenever NAB starts an inquiry in Punjab that it is not so. Rather, all-out cooperation is provided to NAB for this purpose.
Sharif said that though scandals of billions of rupees surfaced during the dictatorial era and documentary evidence is also available in this regard but that NAB has not initiated any proceeding in this regard. He said that he will soon bring the facts to light.
Shehbaz Sharif said that he is ready to face any punishment or quit politics if corruption of even a single penny is proved against him. He said that the corruption committed by some tehsildars and patwaris is a lot more than the total corruption in Pakistan. “What does NAB have to say in this regard?” he asked.
He said that he has no enmity with NAB. He said that the NAB chairman served as a commissioner in Punjab in 1998. The chief minister said that he has always supported accountability as corruption is the root cause of poverty in the country. He said that it is not proper to talk on the basis of suppositions. He said that media is fully aware and can judge the facts. The Punjab government had taken solid measures for the elimination of corruption from the province, he said, adding that the government had resolved to eliminate the patwari culture from the province and that it had been successful.
He said that the efforts of government’s team working on the project had proved fruitful and a modern system of computerised land records had become operational in all tehsils of the province and that people could get proprietary deed in only 30 minutes while the process of transfer of property takes only 50 minutes.
Sharif said that the Land Record Computerisation Project was started as a pilot project in a tehsil of Kasur in 1997-98 but unfortunately due to martial law on October 12, 1999, the project was stopped.
He said that though the former ruler who wanted to elect Pervez Musharraf as president in uniform ten times started work on this project in three districts but nothing was done and Rs 900 million of the nation’s money was wasted. He said that NAB did not investigate the matter even though it should have taken notice of this fact.
Provincial Ministers Rana Sanaullah Khan, Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Begum Zakia Shahnawaz, members of national and provincial assemblies, chief secretary, chairman Planning and Development, senior member Board of Revenue, officers of Land Record Center, representatives of cultivators as well as a number of columnists were present during the ceremony.