NAB to decide 1,133 cases in two months

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has approved a new strategy of the Bureau to decide the fate of the 1,133 cases of corruption in two months.
According to sources, more than 2,000 corruption cases were pending in the NAB since last 15-year and for their early disposal, Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has fixed the time limit to dispose of these cases.
Under the strategy of fixing time limit of two months, it was decided that in first phase 1,133 cases of corruption with solid and credible evidence would be taken to second phase for their logical end while those case in which no evidence existed would be closed down.
Besides, the NAB has completed investigations against three former prime ministers, two former chief ministers and 14 high profile political personalities as well as 42 bureaucrats in cases of corruption, misuse of powers, assets beyond known means, kickbacks and also other illegal means.
Sources said the NAB has finalised 150 references in corruption cases for sending these to the Accountability Courts while investigations were going in another 1200 cases.In the meanwhile, the NAB also initiated an internal accountability drive and the inefficient, unscrupulous and delinquent officers are being weeded out and proceeded against under relevant provisions of law.
According to official, Special Integrity Management Cell has been set up at NAB Headquarters. NAB has designed an Automated Monitoring and Evaluation System for effective monitoring of the performance of officers, prosecutors and field formation. “This will replace and substitute the existing paper based, time-lagged reporting system and will add efficiency and quality to the official business,” said a senior official of the NAB.
Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has chalked out a comprehensive National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS). Under NACS, NAB has adopted Zero Tolerance Policy and proactive approach to curb corruption and corrupt practices from the country.
According to NAB, it has recovered Rs264.398 million looted money from corrupt people since its inception. NAB received 282,931 complaints, authorised 6250 inquiries, 3142 investigations and filed 2330 references in the respective Accountability Courts.
The comparative figures for the latest two years are indicative of the hard work being put in by all ranks of NAB staff in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism, where fight against corruption is being taken as a national duty. Increase in the number of complaints also reflects enhanced public trusted in the NAB.
The Pildat report for the last year also supports the position stated above as 42% people trusted NAB against 30 % for police and 29 % for government officials.The recent report of Transparency International also rated Pakistan in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) down from 175 to 126 which is a great achievement for Pakistan due to Chairman NAB’s efforts in the last 20 years.

According to NAB, it has devised a comprehensive Quantified Grading System to review and further improve the performance of Officers/Officials of NAB. Under this grading system, NAB Regional Bureaus will be evaluated at a given criteria.
On the directions of Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, the NAB has developed an effective Monitoring and Evaluation System catering the needs of all concerned.In order to ensure uniformity and standardisation, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for investigation officers (IOs) were reviewed and revised after a gap of 10 years.