NAB time limit for disposal of workload

Islamabad
The National Accountability Bureau has fixed time limits for disposal of the workload and effective monitoring and evaluations of output.
The decision was taken in a meeting here on Tuesday that was presided over by Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry. The meeting reviewed the progress of inquiries and investigations being conducted by field formations. Chairman NAB took a serious notice of cases pending for years and ordered an in-house appraisal of the issues impeding expeditious processing and disposal of cases.
Based on the internal review, NAB initiated revamping and re engineering of the Enforcement Regime. The concept of the CIT (Combined Investigation Teams) was introduced whereby the Investigation Officer (IO) benefited from the collective wisdom of the supervisory officers as well as the Prosecutors. This not only lent quality to the investigation but also foreclosed the possibility of unscrupulous individuals resorting to abuse of authority.
Moreover, with improved infrastructure and rationalised workload, timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of case putting a maximum limit of 10 months- from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to investigation and finally to a reference in an Accountability Court.
This would not only improve efficiency but would also reduce the complaints highhandedness, harassment and abuse of authority flowing from inordinate delays and unexplained pendency.
In order to ensure uniformity and standardisation, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in vogue were revised after a gap of 10 years to make these responsive to the needs of changed economic, social and technological realities.
With this improved framework in places, a stocktaking exercise had assigned a rational and probable Date Of Completion (DOC) to every single case. All matters pending as on 31.12.2014 are to be processed in a streamlined and professional manner to be finalised by 30.06.2015.
Any complex case not likely to be completed by the DOC will have to be justified with cogent reasons for delay beyond organisation’s control. A centralised monitoring mechanism has been devised to ensure compliance with the SOP’s and prescribed timelines.
The meeting reviewed the performance of NAB’s field formations and expressed satisfaction that the schedule and timelines were being observed. It also evaluated the efficacy of the concept of CIT and observed that the CIT had indeed improved the quality of investigations as well as the professional capacity of Investigation officers (IOs).
Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudhry observed that in order to present a viable deterrence against corruption, NAB needs to transform itself into an efficient, professional and responsive organisation with capacity to undertake complex white collar crime investigations in the shortest possible time since typical log-drawn and protracted proceedings failed to achieve the objectives of effective deterrence.
The Chairman NAB observed that with better infrastructure, quantitative and qualitative improvement in HR, rationalised workload, clearly drawn job descriptions and institutional support and supervision, NAB is ready to rise to the expectation of the Nation.
Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudhry reiterated the policy of zero tolerance towards inefficiency and corruption within the organisation. “The Internal Accountability Mechanism (IAM) recently devised will ensure quick and effective monitoring and evaluation of all levels of work force in NAB,” he added.