No one to be allowed to become ‘Double Shah’: NAB chief

LAHORE: Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said the NAB has turned “Double Shahs” of the society into “Single Shahs” and in future, no one would be allowed to become a “Double Shah”.

He expressed these views while addressing a cheque distribution ceremony among the affectees of the Ferozpur City Housing Society. He distributed Rs730 million among the victims of the society.

During his address, the NAB chairman said corruption is the root cause of all evils and a great hurdle in the journey to prosperity. Due to effective policies of NAB, Pakistan’s ranking on the corruption perception index is improving, he added.

People who are becoming rich after looting innocent people should understand that coffins have no pockets, the chairman said, reiterating his previous day’s stance that no one will be handcuffed in the NAB custody. The bureau respects the self-respect of every individual, the chairman said.

He informed the NAB Pakistan is the first chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Anti-corruption Forum. He shared that in the NAB Rawalpindi Bureau, the first forensic science laboratory has been established, which can examine digital forensics, fingerprints and other aspects of white collar crimes. He said the ratio of success in trials is more than 70 per cent and there are 1,210 references of corruption on trial in accountability courts, which can yield more than Rs900 billion of looted amounts.

From the inception of the NAB, it has deposited Rs303 billion in the national kitty aftergetting it recovered from the corrupt, he said, adding that accountability for all is the only agenda of NAB. He asked the regulators to take notice of lucrative ads of private housing societies. The owners of private housing societies without obtaining NOCs, without layout plans and even without land, defraud common people through advertisements. Early action of regulators can prevent such crimes, he said and urged people to invest only in legal housing societies. He informed that a prevention unit has been constituted in the NAB Lahore, comprising members of LDA, towns and housing societies. The unit is taking vigorous actions against illegal housing societies.