NAB officials not above the law, will be brought to book: SHC

Observing that the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) officials could not be above the law and that they would be brought to book, the Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered taking action against the officers involved in the kidnapping of a citizen for ransom.

The order came on a petition of Sikandar Abro, who is also an accused in a corruption case. Abro claimed that Sarvesh Sheikh and other NAB officers had kidnapped him and demanded Rs10 million to release him.

The anti-graft watchdog’s counsel informed the high court that the NAB chairman had suspended Sheikh, the deputy director of the organisation, and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The additional inspector general of police (legal) said NAB had also arrested Abro on corruption charges, adding that he was accused of committing fraud in the provident fund, pension and wages account in the district accounts of Hyderabad.

The court directed the police to record Abro’s statement at the NAB police station. Observing that serious allegations were levelled against NAB officers, the court directed the provincial police chief and the watchdog’s director general to conduct an inquiry, register a case against them and submit the progress report by December 22.

Suspension notice

A notification was issued by NAB's Karachi office on Thursday confirming that Sarvesh Sheikh had been suspended from official duty.

As per the communique, Sheikh's services as NAB Karachi's deputy director had been placed under suspension in compliance with orders of NAB Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal. It said that the inquiry team constituted by the NAB chief to investigate complaints received against the suspended official had also arrived in the city from Islamabad.

The statement informed that the probe team would conduct inquiry proceedings on a daily basis to ascertain the veracity of allegations against the accused official, who would remain suspended from duties till the completion of the investigation.

Medical board report

The SHC also directed NAB to file comments on the medical board’s report on the treatment of the former president of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) incarcerated on a corruption reference.

Former NBP chief Syed Ali Raza, Zubair Ahmed, Imran Butt and others were booked by the anti-graft watchdog in a corruption reference pertaining to a scam committed at the bank’s Bangladesh branch to the tune of Rs18 billion.

The medical board constituted by the court submitted its report, which stated that the former president of the NBP required medical treatment as he was under stress in prison. The court directed NAB to file its comments on the medical board’s report and adjourned the hearing until December 20.

According to the watchdog, the NBP Bangladesh branch issued loans worth $185 million between 2001 and 2013 without securing collateral and, in certain cases, the branch released securities without even recovering the loans.

NAB also authorised investigations into the conduct of Raza, the NBP’s former president, who was accused of abusing his powers in the processing and sanctioning of the credit limits, wilfully avoiding proper valuation of securities offered by borrowers and causing losses of $185 million to the national exchequer.

The watchdog claimed that the 2009 audit report of the National Bank had exposed irregularities and the State Bank of Pakistan had also expressed reservations on the financial affairs of the bank.

NAB stated that Raza, other NBP officials, including Ahmed, Butt, Tahir Yaqoob, Ibrar Baig and Imran Ghani, and some Bangladeshi citizens were involved in the scam. It is pertinent to mention here that the high court had earlier dismissed the pre-arrest bail of the former NBP president and other bank officers who were subsequently arrested by NAB.  

ACE recruitment report

The Supreme Court directed the director of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to submit the record of recruitments made in the department during the year 2011.

The order came on a petition of Junaid Junejo filed against illegal appointments of sub-inspectors in ACE during 2011. The petitioner said vacancies for 11 sub-inspectors were advertised in 2011 for which he had also applied and passed the test.

He said the provincial government had appointed more than 11 people on the posts of sub-inspectors and had ignored the merit list. The court then directed the ACE chief to submit the record of recruitments of sub-inspectors during 2011 on the next date of hearing.