A review of NAB performance under the leadership of Honourable Chairman Justice Javed Iqbal

Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took over the reins of the bureau on Oct 11, 2017. He was appointed as chairman in consensus with the than opposition and the government on merit due to his honesty, dedication and reputation of working according to the Book.

Almost all segments of society admire Justice Javed's professional capabilities, honesty and adherence to working on merit.

The chairman accepted the coveted post as a challenge as he believed that people makes institution's repute and institutions could be strengthened by working honestly and with dedication, besides earning the respect of the people.

Justice Javed Iqbal's policy during his tenure as a judge of Supreme Court was "Justice for All" and now as Chairman NAB his policy is "Accountability for All." Eradication of corruption, zero tolerance against corruption and self accountability is the foremost policy of the chairman right now, which is being pursued by the bureau with letter and spirit.

The officers of NAB have no affiliation with any political party but they are only the employees of state of Pakistan and serving the people without any discrimination as per law. All inquiries and investigations are being completed within the limit of law.

The anti corruption strategy of chairman is being admitted across the globe as the most effective strategy against corruption. He has transformed NAB a vibrant institute within a short span of time. Whole nation trust NAB in accomplishing the task of eradication of corruption.

Justice Javed not only appreciates dedicated officers but also believes in dealing strictly with corrupt and inept officers. The jurisdiction of NAB has already been swelled across the country. With headquarter in Islamabad, as many as eight regional bureaus are working in various cities including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Multan and Gilgit-Baltistan.

NAB has fixed 10 months period for completing the whole process of filing a reference from conducting inquiries to investigations. Chairman has already taken notice of various cases and ordered conducting inquiries in the last two years including inquiries to probe corruption in 56 public limited companies of Punjab, looting of peoples' hard earned money by different housing societies, arrest of proclaimed offenders.

He directed relevant civic authorities to place the lists of approved housing societies at their respective websites and also inform people by giving ads in different newspapers for information of the people.

The chairman also conduct 'open Ketcheries' on every last Thursday of every month aiming to resolve people's problems by himself. Till date 3,000 complainants had personally met with the chairman and lodge their complaint directly to the chairman. Chairman has also directed director generals of regional bureaus to conduct open ketcheries at their respective offices on every last Thursday of every month and listen peoples' problems by themselves.

Chairman has also chaired 25 NAB's Executive board meetings. In which complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations were approved. The conviction ratio of NAB is 70 percent. NAB is utilizing all available resources for eradication corruption of all kinds.

NAB had received double complaints in 2019 as comparing to 2018. Data of last two years shows that the bureau's officers consider eradication of corruption as their national duty. NAB is also role model among South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.

The bureau is the first chairman of SAARC Anti Corruption Forum. NAB has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China. NAB does not believe in discrimination against anyone.

It only considers 'case and not the face'. NAB is strictly adhering to the 'Accountability for All' policy, which was introduced by the chairman immediately after taking charge of the bureau. Chairman has done sincere efforts of eradication of corruption in last one year and bureau is determined to implement the policy of 'NAB's Faith - Corruption free Pakistan' under the leadership of Honourable Justice Javed Iqbal. (The writer is spokesman for NAB DG Media)