Vigorous prosecution of mega corruption white collar crimes cases against big fish is top most priority of NAB: Javed Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, Jan 20 (SABAH): National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said that vigorous prosecution of mega corruption white collar crimes cases against big fish is top most priority of NAB so that they may brought to logical conclusion on the basis of solid evidence as per law.

He said that the excellent performance of Prosecution Division of NAB under the supervision of Syed Asghar Haider PGA has yielded excellent results. He said that 1278 cases of NAB against corrupt elements worth Rs. 1335 billion are under trial in various esteemed accountability courts throughout the country.

The NAB’s Operational and Prosecution Division are providing all support including legal assistance to all regional bureaus in conduct of complaint verifications, inquiries and investigation in accordance with law and pursuing the cases in the learned accountability courts, respected high courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

On the instructions of the Chairman NAB, the continuous monitoring and performance of the Prosecution Division is being reviewed by PGA, due to which the overall conviction rate in NAB cases is 66.8 percent.

Chairman NAB said that bringing mega corruption white collar crime to its logical conclusion is the top priority of NAB. He said that for eradication of corruption, NAB is committed to implementing the policy of “Accountability for All” which has yielded excellent results. The Chairman directed that the corrupt elements should be brought to justice and by recovering the money looted from them.

He directed the concerned to follow up the cases in accordance with the law on the basis of solid evidence so that the recovered money could be deposited in national exchequer. He said that during the tenure of current NAB administration Rs. 822 billion has been recovered from October 2017 to December 2021, which is a significant achievement as compared to previous years.

And it is a manifestation of the national duty of NAB officers to eradicate corruption from the country. NAB is focal organisation of Pakistan under United National Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).NAB is like a role model not only for Pakistan but also for entire SAARC countries. NAB has established modern forensic science lab equipped with Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis. These measures have improved the performance of the NAB. He said that NAB is trying to save the nation from corruption by following the policy of zero tolerance.

NAB has introduced a Combine Investigation Team (CIT) system in order to benefit from the experienced and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers so that quality and standard of investigations could be further improved on the basis of solid evidence as well as NAB had devised and implemented an effective. It is clear from this that the nations which have eradicated corruption from the country have made progress. He said that reputable national and international institutions have praised the performance of NAB.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal appreciated the excellent performance of the Prosecution Division of NAB headed by Prosecutor General Accountability Syed Asghar Haider and hoped that the Prosecution Division would continue to perform its duties in accordance with the law with the same diligence and dedication as per law.