Chairman National Accountability Bureau former Justice Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said that there is no power which can pull strings of the Bureau. Talking to reporters here after attending an in-camera meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which was held with its Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah in the chair, Iqbal said, "I would take my bag and quit the institution if a string is pulled."
Answering to a question, the NAB chairman said it is not correct that the NAB is taking 'revenge,' adding that the anti-corruption inquiries will be completed swiftly and properly. "We will try our best to dispose of pending cases of corruption during the next 10 months," he added. In response to another question, the NAB chairman said the Bureau has nothing to do with the election. He said if someone committed corruption then he or she is answerable before and after the election.
Referring to upcoming general elections, Iqbal said the accountability body's functions will not be affected by the upcoming polls and a person guilty of corruption will be charged. "An individual may be arrested before or after the election if charged with corruption," he added.
Referring to former Premier Nawaz Sharif's departure to meet his ailing wife along with his daughter and son-in-law, the NAB chief said that a case is pending against them is in the accountability court, and refused to comment on the issue. "Human empathy exists, but I'm not stopping Nawaz, it is not my job," he remarked and further added that the ousted premier's return is not an issue.
About Ali Jahangir Siddiqui, the ambassador-designate to the US, Iqbal said that steps have been taken to place his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) but a court had stopped the Bureau from further proceedings in this regard. Replying to a question, Iqbal said that volume of corruption is discussed when it is in limits, but the situation is far worse now.
Some inquiries have already been started, whereas some others are yet to be initiated, he explained in response to another question, adding that red notices have been issued to bring back some wanted accused from the United Kingdom to Pakistan. "A lot of proclaimed offenders will be brought back in coming days," he said.
"Our interior minister had never been as powerful to hand over people to other countries," he said while responding to a question on the reports about involvement of former Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sharpao during former dictator Pervez Musharraf's regime in handing over of thousands of Pakistanis to the US in exchange for money.
The NAB chairman had previously headed a high-level commission investigating missing persons. "Those in the corridors of powers should be questioned in this regard," he said when a reporter asked him to probe the matter further. Earlier, while briefing to the PAC on the performance of NAB and current situation of ongoing as well as pending cases, the NAB chief assured the committee members that all the pending cases will soon be resolved.
According to sources, the chairman NAB informed the panel that it has completed 2,070 references against various persons on various corruption charges, while 1,200 references are pending with courts, investigation of 3,724 cases has been done, inquiry on 289 cases is in progress and inquiries on 7,432 cases have been completed.
Briefing the participants on mega corruption cases, Iqbal said that NAB has made significant progress and 101 corruption references have been filed in the relevant accountability courts out of a total of 179 mega corruption cases, sources said. The legal proceedings are continuing in the respective accountability courts as per law.
The chairman NAB said that NAB is committed to eradicating corruption across the board by adopting "Accountability for All" policy so that the corrupt should be brought to justice. There have been 19 inquiries made and 23 investigations are being conducted in NAB with 36 cases have already been disposed of to their logical conclusion.
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