NAB issues guidelines for its regional offices

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday issued guidelines for its prosecutors of all regions in the light of second and third amendments to the NAB ordinance for the cases in the accountability courts.

According to the notification, the guidelines were issued by the NAB Headquarters to all the deputy prosecutors general of all the regional offices of Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Karachi, Quetta and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

The guidelines said the deputy prosecutor general accountability (DGPA) will prepare and compile a list of all the cases, references, appeals, etc on a daily basis, which are fixed according to the proforma-A and send the details of allocation made to each prosecutor on a weekly basis. “This will enable the Headquarter to monitor the performances of the prosecutors and in future, this will be the criteria for the extension of contacts,” said the guidelines.

The concerned additional prosecutor general accountability (AGPA) will examine this proforma and give his comments in each case and share all the important matters with the office of the prosecutor general accountability (PGA) (specifically adverting to the cases, wherein the directions have been asked for).

The replies will be prepared by the region within three days and forwarded to the Headquarter for the approval and thereafter, submitted to the courts within the fixed time.

In future, the sentence “Matter has been forwarded to the Headquarter for necessary action” will not be used to obtain the adjournment. The decision, if any required, to be made by the Headquarter, will be communicated by the region to the Headquarter well within time, notifying the next date of hearing to the ADC and DPGA (HQ) by phone or via fax. They will ensure the responses by the Headquarter are communicated to the region well before the court date.

Progress of all the cases will be conveyed in writing by the regional prosecutor to the DGPA, who will share it telephonically with the GPA(HQ), where the Headquarter will give its input and send the detailed progress report on every Friday to the DGPA(HQ). The office of PGA will share these details with the director, chairman’s secretariat, who will put up all the matters, marking “important” before the worthy chairman for his kind perusal and necessary orders.

No adjournment will be requested by the NAB prosecutors, while the witnesses shall be produced on each date of hearing and their presence be ensured in the court. The replies will be filed as quickly as possible and the arrangements shall be made to file them on the notified dates and no adjournment under any circumstances shall be obtained on this ground.

The prosecution shall strictly observe the office/court timing and also tender merit-based legal advisor to the investigators at the stage of complaint verification, inquiry and investigation.

The evidence will thereafter be evaluated and shared with the office of the PGA, before the discussion is made in the secretariat.