PHC CJ questions NAB performance in KP

PESHAWAR: Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth has questioned the role of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and observed that it seems there is no NAB in the province nowadays.

“NAB is not doing work against corruption and misappropriation in the province. NAB performance has not been seen in the KP for the last six years,” the PHC chief justice remarked while hearing a petition of the opposition lawmakers in the KP Assembly against the KP government for non-allocation of funds to their schemes and “discrimination” with the opposition lawmakers.

The chief justice observed that a few years ago, the NAB KP was much active and visible against corruption and corrupt elements, but unfortunately now NAB is not seen in KP. Today, he remarked, the NAB is active in Punjab only.

When Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General Shumail Ahmad Butt started explaining actions of the NAB KP in the province, the chief justice expressed his wonder whether NAB is still working in the province.

The advocate general replied that the NAB was working in the province and that was why today the baboos (bureaucrats) were thinking several times before picking and signing a file.

In reply, the chief justice observed that NAB is not seen in the province and the NAB was very active six years ago in KP.

“It seems that KP province is without NAB now,” he observed.

The chief justice passed these observations while hearing writ petition filed by leader of the opposition on the KP Assembly, Akram Khan Durrani and other lawmakers of various parties against utilisation of the chief minister’s discretionary funds. The court had also issued the stay order in the utilisation of the chief minister’s discretionary funds, but the lawmakers had challenged the use of the funds for the financial year 2018-19 that had lapsed and now the chief minister was using the discretionary funds for the fiscal year 2019-20.

The bench, after hearing arguments from both sides, reserved verdict in the case. The advocate general appeared for the provincial government and advocate Aamir Javed argued the case for the petitioners.