–Anti-graft body’s director generals in Islamabad, Karachi along with other officers handed down new postings
ISLAMABAD: In a massive reshuffle, NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has ordered postings and transfers of his senior officers here on Monday.
According to a notification, Muhammad Abid Javaid, a director general of BS-21 scale, has been transferred from the bureau’s headquarters in the capital to Quetta chapter. Brigadier (r) Farooq Naseer Awan, another director general of the BS-21 scale who was previously posted in Islamabad, has been transferred to the NAB’s Karachi office. NAB Karachi Director General Muhammad Altaf Bawany has been transferred to the capital.
Mirza Muhammad Irfan Baig Director of BS-20 has been transferred from NAB Balochistan to NAB Sukkur. While Fayyaz Qureshi Director BS-20 has been transferred from NAB Sukkur to NAB Headquarters Islamabad for further postings. Ghulam Safdar Shah Additional Director of BS-19 has been transferred from Lahore chapter to Islamabad headquarters for further posting.
Furthermore, Nasir Iqbal, an officer of FBR working as NAB Islamabad DG on deputation has been surrendered to Establishment Division. Ahmad Jan Malik, a BS 19 officer of the Secretariat Group who was working as a director in Islamabad, has also been surrendered to the Establishment Division.
Director T&R (Training and Research) Mirza Sultan Muhammad Saleem has been given additional charge of DG on look after basis.
The transfers postings come in the wake when National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is in the news these days for its action in high-profile political cases, a delve into the performance reflects that under its chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, it has failed to act as around 5,800 corruption cases involving amount of around Rs1.3 trillion embezzled by over 21,000 accused in Pakistan are still pending.
The rot in the NAB could be gauged by the fact that in 2017, a scrutiny committee headed by former establishment secretary Tahir Shahbaz had served show-cause notices to over 100 senior officials of the NAB who faced removal from service due to lack of requisite experience in dealing white-collar crime.
In the notices, the officials, including some serving on the posts of director general, had been asked to submit their replies within a week’s time by the committee.
These officials, who had decided the fate of hundreds of accused in corruption cases, were facing an inquiry on the orders of the Supreme Court which formed the scrutiny committee recently.
The then establishment secretary had presented a report before the Supreme Court in March 2017 in a suo motu case on controversial appointments in NAB. The initial report presented by NAB before the committee regarding the status of about 100 officers also revealed their lack of requisite experience in the field of investigation.
According to the secretary’s report, which was made a part of the Supreme Court’s judgement issued on March 31, 2017, four director generals also did not meet the required criteria for holding the post — Husnain Ahmed (the then DG headquarters), Zahir Shah (then DG operations), Altaf Bawany (Karachi DG) and retired Brig Farooq Naser Awan (KP DG).
