ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has indicated its wish for speedy hearings of various mega-corruption cases, hinting at filing petitions in this regard, and vowed to return looted money back to Pakistan.
A meeting chaired by NAB Chairperson Justice (r) Javed Iqbal and attended by Hussain Asghar, Syed Asghar Haider, and Zahir Shah — the anti-corruption body's deputy chairperson, prosecutor-general for accountability, and the director-general of operations, respectively — discussed the anti-graft watchdog's overall situation and pondered bringing mega-corruption cases to a logical conclusion.
In his remarks, Iqbal, the NAB boss, said the elimination of corruption from Pakistan, as well as returning looted money to the country and depositing it in the National Exchequer, was the watchdog's top priority.
"At present, some 1,230 corruption references filed by the NAB are pending in various accountability courts across the country," the top official said, adding that they were cumulatively worth about Rs947 billion.
"Petitions for early hearing of mega corruption cases worth billions of rupees will soon be filed in the accountability courts and preparation should be followed on the basis of solid evidence, witness statements, and other [relevant] documents," he added.
Justice (r) Iqbal underlined that the NAB has so far directly and indirectly recovered Rs714 billion and deposited it in the National Exchequer. "The conviction rate in accountability courts is about 68.8%," he said.
Cases may be brought to a logical conclusion in accordance with the law under Section 16 (a) of the NAB Ordinance 1999, he added.