Countries don’t progress that…: Promote corruption in garb of democracy, says NAB chief

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Friday said that countries promoting corruption under the garb of democracy do not make progress.

He said NAB did not believe in political victimisation or political revenge and conducted complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations as per law. “In case of lack of incriminating evidence, it closes the case on merit,” he said. “The NAB announces to initiate complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations through press statements and when it closes any complaint verification, inquiry and investigation, it presents the same through press statement after getting approval from its Executive Board,” he said while addressing the cheque distribution ceremony of affected people of the Model Housing Enclave, Lahore, on Friday. During the ceremony, he distributed the cheques amounting to Rs246.7 million among 190 affected people of the Model Housing Enclave

The NAB chairman said NAB believes in across-the- board accountability against the corrupt sans caring about their position or status. He said NAB has turned the 'Double Shah into Single Shah' and recovered and returned Rs4 billion of the people out of Rs9 billion, and from the other main accused Tassawar Gilani recovered and returned Rs1.2 billion to the affected people out of Rs1.9 billion.

It also returned Rs360 million of the people affected by the Elite Town Housing scheme, which is a record success, he added. He said the regulators should take notice of the advertisement of housing societies and should take notice whether these housing societies have taken a No Objection Certificate or if they have an approved layout from the concerned department or not and also if the society possesses the land or selling the dreams only.

The NAB chairman appreciated the Lahore NAB and Lahore DG NAB and hoped that the performance of NAB, Lahore, would continue in future with same fervor and zeal in order to bring the corrupt before the justice as per law.