Everyone seems to be at fault
NAB has been used for decades by civilian and military rulers as an instrument for political engineering and a device to victimise opponents. The PPP and PML-N, therefore, committed themselves in the 2006 CoD to set up a mutually agreed, independent accountability commission. Attempts made after 2008 led to wrangling between the two parties with the result that they failed to evolve consensus over a new law. In 2013 after four and a half months of dithering and after what Khursheed Shah called “five constructive meetings” with the Prime Minister, the two sides agreed on the name of Qamar Zaman Chaudhry for the office of Chairman NAB under the old law.
Acting on a petition, the Supreme Court directed NAB Chairman to present a report on the progress of various cases of corruption sent to it. The NAB presented a list of 150 mega scams involving top politicians from the PPP, PML-N and PML-Q as well as bureaucrats and businessmen. The report led to a media trial of the politicians. Punjab Chief Minister denounced the charges against PML-N leaders as totally false. He was supported by the Federal Minister for Information and Speaker National Assembly. Both alleged that NAB had lost all credibility and was only interested in maligning the political leadership. Coming as it did in the wake of the recent campaign against MQM and PPP, the report created a perception that there was more to it than meets the eye. The peculiar background of the Chairman NAB provided another dimension to the suspicions.
The fact that some of the cases date back to year 2000 indicate criminal negligence on the part of NAB. It appears that the NAB acted mostly as a mailbox, registering whatever cases were sent to it by governments or agencies instead of dropping those found to be false and pursuing those considered to be genuine. That Supreme Court has to intervene again and again to reprimand the government and state institutions to carry out their duties is not a good omen for the system.
