‘NAB in dock instead of untouchables’

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the opposition’s allegations that NAB was conducting political engineering and victimization, Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said on Tuesday NAB was being accused of all the ills of the country except coronavirus pandemic.

“Those hurling allegations are the ones against whom NAB investigated graft charges or pursuing corruption references and if anyone thinks that he was being victimized, he must approach the court to clear his name,” he said while addressing businessmen and traders at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Rejecting the notion of political engineering, he said NAB had nothing to do with the politics. “If my engineering were any good, then I would have retired as an engineer instead of a judge,” he said. He said some people say that the NAB and Pakistan cannot coexist but he says instead corruption and Pakistan cannot co-exist.

He said NAB was pursuing the cases of those who were penniless in 1980s, but today they owned multistoryed buildings. "I am surprised where did they manage to get so much money and also referred to the case of a motorcyclist who amassed so much wealth that he now owns towers in Dubai."

He said the NAB was taking action under law against all the untouchables of the past for their illegal actions, misuse of authority, assets beyond known sources of income, money laundering and inflicting losses to national exchequer.

He said wheat was embezzled from one province and officials said that it was consumed by rats and when those “fat rats” were caught by the NAB, Rs10 billion to Rs15 billion were recovered from them. “Someone had to stand up against corruption and that is what the NAB was doing.” He said only when he goes away from NAB, then he will reveal how much pressure, threats and offers were made to him while serving the anti-graft organisation.