NAB penalizes 22 of its own officials
NAB penalizes its own officials for misuse of power.
Dunya News Report (Yaruq Malik)
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated disciplinary proceedings against 83 NAB officials since the last three years according to a press release. The report stated that 22 NAB officials have been penalized for various charges including the misuse of power and authority while serving at NAB.
Chairman NAB, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry highlighted that the bureau finds it necessary to hold its own employees accountable under the internal accountability mechanism (IAM). He added that NAB is committed to cleanse its own hierarchy of officials, in order to resist any misuse of power and authority within the bureau.
“A NAB officer should have impeccable integrity and service discipline as he holds others accountable. Disciplinary matters are important for efficiency and effective performance of a system. We have taken strong actions against our own officials by taking a stock of complaints against them.” said the NAB chairman.
Previously, Justice Amir Hani Muslim had questioned the recent hiring made by NAB and had asked for the total number of people who are working at senior positions in the bureau for accountability. Justice Amir criticized the NAB for misusing the plea bargain act and questioned the Chairman NAB for the credibility of the act used by the institution as a process of consolidation in major corruption cases.
“Under the plea bargain act, a man accused of corruption charges worth Rs.100 million is released if he provides Rs. 10 million, then the same man is restored in his office where he gets involved in more corruption worth Rs. 200 million, what sort of a process is this?” said the judge in his remarks.
The Justice further added that if procedures under NAB continue in the same manner, then NAB should be shut down immediately.
“If this is how NAB works, it must be shut down,” Said Justice Amir.
After facing extreme criticism, the National Accountability Bureau provided the Supreme Court of Pakistan with a total of 150 ‘mega corruption’ cases worth billions of rupees. The document included the likes of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and many other prominent personalities.
Moreover, NAB launched an investigation against the Metro Bus Project in Lahore. It is reported that NAB has asked the Punjab Mass Transit Authority to provide all the necessary documentation related to the 27-km Metro Bus Project in Lahore.
NAB has also asked for information about the senior project officials of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) and the Planning and Development Department.
The Chief Engineer at the LDA, Israr Saeed, has claimed that NAB contacted the LDA three years ago and was given copies of the documents regarding the Metro Bus Project. He added that NAB has not contacted since. However, the Chief Engineer at LDA said that if NAB contacts again, the LDA would co-operate without hesitation.
“NAB has not asked us to provide documents related to the metro bus project in recent days. When they had contacted us three years ago, they sought various documents about the project. We provided copies of a number of documents to NAB at that time. However, we will always welcome NAB if it wants to know more about the project,” the Chief Engineer at LDA said.
Furthermore, two retired military officers were arrested with a civilian by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly being a part of the DHA Islamabad farmhouse scam amounting to Rs500 million.
A press release issued by NAB reported that the ex-administrator of DHA, Brigadier (retd) Javed Iqbal and ex-director project DHA, Colonel (retd) Sabahat Qadeer Butt were arrested for misusing their authority by selling illegal allotment certificates of DHA Islamabad. The retired military officers are also accused of breaching agreements between DHA and Elysium Holdings Pakistan Ltd.
Interestingly, Elysium Holdings is owned by Kamran Kayani who is the younger brother of former army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Kamran Kayani is also facing corruption charges in the Rs16 billion DHA City (Lahore) scam. According to reports, Kamran Kayani is living abroad these days.
Elysium Holdings is under NAB inquiry since April, 2015 for the alleged sale of allotment certificates for the DHA Islamabad farmhouse project fraud which is estimated at Rs500 million. Elysium Holdings is also accused of helping Globaco (Pvt) Ltd to acquire the DHA City project in Lahore. Hammad Arshad, the owner of Globaco (Pvt) Ltd, is already under arrest on charges of corruption and cheating.
Brigadier Amjad Pervez Kayani said that General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has nothing to do with the business and actions of his brothers.
After facing criticism and a possible shutdown from Justice Amir Hani Muslim, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is striking hard against corruption cases across the country. NAB has provided the Supreme Court of Pakistan with ample evidence of alleged ‘foul play’ across Pakistan and within the bureau.
