National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman (r) Justice Javed Iqbal has denied accusations of critics who claimed that he was using his position for his own political gains, and has clarified that neither he nor the body he heads has any such affiliation.
“My personal interest and that of NAB is only with Pakistan,” he said while addressing a group of traders in Peshawar, adding that NAB had always been the subject of a “nefarious propaganda” and allegations were levelled against it.
He said that the only thing the anti-graft body did to incur this anger was ask people where they acquired their wealth. To this, he added that shutting down NAB would only benefit the elite.
“Should NAB be shut only because it asked you where you acquired these billions of rupees from?” he asked.
He stated that while the poor were held accountable, the rich should be taken to the same standard, adding that the elite “were sad and shocked that there’s an institution in Pakistan that can ask where these billions of dollars and rupees came from”.
“NAB’s biggest crime is that it asked these people how they wasted away so much of the nation’s money and the country’s economy,” he emphasised.
He also questioned how the NAB could be held accountable for the state of the countries economy when it neither charged tax nor did it determine the interest rate.
Speaking on the success of the watchdog, he said that Rs487 billion had been recovered over the last three years.
“I can say with certainty there is no [other] institution in our country that could recover in Rs2.5bn in two years and distribute among [the affected] people, then recover another Rs2bn in 1.5 years and distribute among people,” he said, adding that one of the bureau’s biggest accomplishments was the record Rs1bn fine imposed in the Modarba case.
He said that NAB was not a policy-framing institution and worked according to the law. Additionally, no “coercive measures or third-degree methodology” was used to recover the billions of rupees reclaimed by the bureau and the accused themselves opted for plea bargains, he added.
Earlier in the day, Javed (r) Iqbal said that anti-graft watchdog’s present administration has nothing to do with the Broadsheet agreement as the agreement was signed in year 2000 and ended in 2003.
The anti-graft agency chairman said this during his visit to the Bureau’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter where Director General (DG) Brigadier (r) Farooq Nasir Awan briefed him on mega corruption cases.
A total of 182 corruption references of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are under trial in different accountability courts of Peshawar.
In a special briefing, the DG apprised him that the KP bureau has recovered Rs3,018 million from corrupt elements in the last three years and deposited the recovered amount in national exchequer.
Awan apprised the chairman that the bureau is pursuing 307 complaints, 68 complaint verifications, 95 inquiries and 38 investigations in accordance with law.
The bureau had also recovered millions of rupees from fake housing societies and returned the looted money to poor investors, Awan stated.
Speaking on the occasion, Justice (r) Iqbal said that KP bureau is playing a key role in enhancing the overall performance of NAB. A total of 1,230 corruption references having corruption volume of Rs943 billion are under trial in various accountability courts.
NAB has decided to file early hearing pleas for early conclusion of these references.
