National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said that the NAB is committed to eradicate corruption by adopting zero tolerance policy. He said this while chairing a meeting to review the NAB performance at NAB Headquarters.
Zaman said that the NAB had chalked out a very comprehensive operational methodology for proceeding of cases’ complaint verification, inquiry and investigation.
He said that our investigation officers strictly follow a code of conduct on the basis of evidence as per law. He said that to close the possibility of any single NAB official influencing the discharge of official business, the concept of a “Combined Investigation Team” (CIT) was introduced where two investigation officers and a legal consultant are working as a team for a fair, transparent and unbiased investigation.
He said that the NAB has recovered Rs285 billion which have been deposited in the national exchequer as a record achievement. He said that the NAB has received 3, 21,318 complaints which were all disposed off according to law.
The NAB has authorised 7124 inquiries, 3616 investigations and filed 2610 in the respective Accountability Courts to proceed against allegedly corrupt people since its inception, the chairman said. In a short span of 16 years, the NAB’s performance is a record achievement which is better than any investigation agency of the world.
According to a report of Transparency International (TI) in 2016, Pakistan’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has improved, adding that Pakistan was considering to be a role model in South Asian countries in its efforts against corruption, he further said.
He said that the figures of complaints, inquiries and investigations are almost double in 2016 as compared to the same period of 2015. The comparative figures for the latest two and half years are indicative of the hard work being put in by all ranks of the NAB staff in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism, where the fight against corruption is being taken as a national duty.
The chairman further said that the NAB in collaboration with the HEC has established over 42 thousand Character Building Societies (CBS) in all the leading universities and colleges across the country to build an effective edifice against corruption.
He said that the NAB has established a state of the art Forensic Lab in Rawalpindi which has facilities of Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis. The NAB intends to host first SAARC Anti-Corruption Conference in Islamabad after the approval of the competent authority.
The NAB has proposed Whistle Blower Act which has been approved by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Soon it will be presented before the federal cabinet for further deliberations as per the law.
