ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has authorised inquiries and investigations in high profile corruption cases amounting to more than Rs50 billion against politicians, retired army officials and bureaucrats in last two months.
He chaired five Executive Board Meetings in two months and took action on those cases which were pending with NAB from last four to five years. He is actively pursuing the cases of Sharif family and approved reference against Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif. The cases were made against them by former dictator Pervez Musharraf in 2,000.
NAB officials said that the former chief of anti-graft body Qamar Zaman Chaudhry could not take decision on 90 corruption references and hundreds of corruption complaints .
Justice Javed Iqbal assumed the charge of office in October and he had been given briefing on pending cases. He directed all regional bureaus to present pending cases in the EBM. He also chaired the meetings and reviewed the performance of different departments of the Bureau and directed the NAB officers to complete the pending inquiries and investigations within the given timeframe without taking any pressure.
The NAB EBM took decisions under his supervision and launched inquiries against retired army officials, members of Sharif family and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khattak and other officials of KP government over allegations of misuse of helicopter by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan. It was the first time in the NAB’s history that the EBM authorised inquiries against retired senior army officials in corruption cases.
The chairman NAB also took action against Bureaus’ two Director Generals over corruption allegations and removed them from key posts who came in NAB on deputation during the Qamar Zaman Chaudhary’s tenure. He sent DG Human Resource NAB Shakeel Malik to his parent department, the Establishment Division.
NAB has also launched the complaint verifications and inquiries against five members of federal cabinet, including Khawaj Asif, Riaz Pirzada, Saira Afzal Tarar, Saad Rafique and Akram Khan Durrani on charges of corruption in last one and half months. Three ministers Riaz Pirzada, Ikram Durrani and Saira Afzal Tarar had declared these inquiries as baseless and requested the chairman NAB to conclude inquiries against them before next elections.
The NAB EBM had ordered investigations against former army officials, including Lt Gen (Retd) Muhammad Afzal Janjua and Brig (Retd) Iftikhar Mehdi in case of corruption of Rs243 million. It also authorised inquiries against former IG FC Balochistan Lf Gen. (Retd) Obaid Ullah Khan and Brig (Retd) Asad Shahzad in cases of dubious money transactions.
The Bureau actively pursued the cases against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of Sharif family in new NAB chief’s five months tenure and approved supplementary references against the ousted premier and others in Azizia Steel Mills, Hill Metals, Flagship Investment and Avenfield properties corruption cases.
NAB ordered to carry out complaint verification against former PM Nawaz Sharif and officials of the Establishment Division in a case pertaining to the alleged illegal appointment of Higher Education Commission Chairman Mukhtar Ahmed.
The NAB EBM approved reference against Nawaz Sharif and his brother Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif in illegal construction of a road to the residence. The case was pending with the Bureau from last 18 years.
He had written to the interior ministry to place the names of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Captain (Retd) Muhammad Safdar, Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz on the Exit Control List.
Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal had ordered an immediate inquiry into the offshore firms held by 435 Pakistanis in tax havens abroad.
