Probes against ministers to complete soon: NAB chief

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal Friday informed the Lahore High Court that he had not committed contempt of court as inquiries against Federal Minister Khusro Bakhtiar and his brother Provincial Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht into allegations of amassing assets beyond know sources of income were underway and would be completed soon.

In a reply submitted in response to a contempt petition filed by Ahsan Abid Advocate, the NAB chairman said the bureau was working independently and impartially and the minister brothers were not exerting political pressure. He pleaded the court to dismiss the contempt petition with heavy costs.

The petitioner, also the complainant against the brothers, pleaded the LHC had ordered the NAB to conclude inquiries against them in three months but it failed. Hence, the NAB chairman and DG have committed contempt of court and they should be penalised for flouting the court order, he added.

Meanwhile, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (R) Javed Iqbal has directed all regional bureaus to conduct complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations on the basis of solid evidence, statements of the accused and witnesses as per law.

Chairman NAB chaired a meeting held at NAB Headquarters on Friday, attended by Deputy Chairman NAB Hussain Asghar, Prosecutor General Accountability Syed Asghar Haider, Director General Operations Zahir Shah, DG NAB Rawalpindi Irfan Naeem Mangi whereas all DGs of regional bureaus were online via video link for reviewing the NAB performance during the meeting.

The meeting decided to impart capacity-building training to investigation officers and prosecutors for enhancing their abilities on modern lines by adopting scientific techniques/methods as per law.

It further decided to improve the functioning of the forensic science laboratory at NAB Rawalpindi so that the standard of inquiries could be raised further on the basis of forensic analysis.

Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal directed to utilize all available resources for concluding the mega corruption white collar cases on scientific basis so that the corrupt elements could be brought to net as per law.

The Chairman directed that complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations should reach their logical end by taking the benefit of the collective wisdom of the Combined Investigation Team. “Proper monitoring of the NAB headquarters and all regional bureaus will be ensured by persistent vigilance and the required legal assistance could be provided if required by all concerned,” he said. “More than 1230 references are under trial in different Accountability Courts and the relevant DGs should ensure that the cases are pursued with complete preparation. People visiting NAB should be dealt respectfully and no laxity will be tolerated in this regard.”