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Thursday March 28, 2024

Ehtesab Court can formulate its procedure: Justice Javed

By Asim Yasin & Tahir Khalil
October 22, 2017

ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Saturday said that the Accountability (Ehtesab) Court could formulate its own procedure and Nawaz Sharif’s indictment was lawful.

He said under Section 342 of the criminal act, the indictment of the accused in absence could not be made but the NAB Ordinance was very clear under which the judge of the accountability court could suspend the normal proceedings and formulate its procedure.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said that Nawaz Sharif himself had given authorisation in writing to his lawyer to represent him in the court, so his presence was not mandatory for his indictment in the Accountability Court.

He dispelled the impression of Supreme Court (SC) pressure on the Bureau and made it clear that NAB was not an institution for victimisation.

“The judiciary was taking decisions independently as per the Constitution,” he said in a special talk with The News here on Saturday.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal summoned the NAB’s Director General Conference on Monday, which would be attended by all the director generals of the NAB regions in which he would give his vision to make NAB a viable institution.

In an exclusive talk with The News, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said that it was not appropriate for those who had been ruling the country for 30 years to talk against NAB. “When I assumed the charge, they started declaring NAB as a corrupt institution. If there were weaknesses in NAB, those who were ruling should have removed these shortcomings," he said.

The NAB chief said when the references against them were filed in the courts, they started seeing all the evils in NAB and this attitude was not correct. “The reaction to those who are declaring NAB as corrupt was necessary,” he added.

The NAB chairman said he
followed the principle of "Accountability for All" and it would strictly be implemented and whosoever was found involved in corruption, would face accountability.

He said that the NAB was not meant for victimisation and would restore its prestige.

The NAB chairman directed the Bureau officials to complete inquiries and investigations by following rules and regulations and with the use of scientific techniques.

He said that NAB was established to end corruption and recover looted money from the corrupt people.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said that NAB should work on the basis of transparency, gather evidence and complete inquiries and investigations so that corrupt elements could be sentenced by respective accountability courts, high courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan on basis of solid proofs. “The proper prosecution of cases would increase reputation of NAB,” he added.

He said his top priority was the policy of zero tolerance and self-accountability for ending corruption. 

The NAB chairman said he himself would monitor the cases of promotion of officers and would also look into the cases of deputation in NAB.

The NAB chairman said 10-month deadline was fixed for filing of a reference and the time line for cases would strictly be observed.

He said every effort would be made to arrest proclaimed offenders and wanted persons. “I would personally supervise the filing of references in the accountability courts so that demands of justice should be fulfilled,” he added. He said, "Allah Almighty decides the matters of honour and dishonor for men and everybody is first answerable to his conscience. If you are performing your duties with honesty and sincerity, your conscience will be satisfied and expectations of the people will also be met,” he said.