NAB chairman says anti-corruption strategy has started yielding results.

Byline: Imtiaz Ali

KARACHI -- National Accountability Bureau chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal said on Wednesday that the anti-graft watchdog was committed to elimination of corruption and making a 'corruption-free' Pakistan by adopting the policy of 'Accountability for All' with an iron hand.

'NAB has devised an effective strategy for eradication of corruption and it has started yielding excellent dividends,' he said while chairing a meeting at the headquarters of NAB Karachi.

Justice Iqbal reviewed the performance of NAB Karachi with regard to high-profile cases against politicians and others.

Retired Justice Javed Iqbal visits Karachi but fails to address key issues being faced by NAB investigation officers

Sources said that his main focus was on cases against political figures and necessary instructions were issued to this effect.

He said that NAB had 'perfected' its procedures and rejuvenated after taking new initiatives.

'In order to rationalise the workload, timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases putting a maximum limit of 10 months from complaint verification, inquiry, investigation and finally [filing] a reference in the accountability court,' he said.

The NAB chief said that in order to ensure uniformity and standardisation, the standard operating procedures for investigating officers (IOs) were reviewed and revised after a gap of 10 years.

He said that this was done to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers and a system of combined investigation team comprising a director, additional director, IO and a senior legal counsel had been put in place.

'This is lending quality to the work but also ensure that no single individual can influence the proceedings,' he added.

Briefing on high-profile cases

According to an official statement, the NAB chairman was given a briefing by retired Brigadier Farooq Naser Awan, the head of Karachi chapter of the anti-graft body.

Mr Awan said that from Oct 11, 2018, NAB Karachi had filed corruption references against former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain, former provincial minister Sharjeel Memon, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and former federal minister Kamran Michael.

The sources told Dawn that the recent murder case of TV anchor Mureed Abbas over a 'financial dispute' in Defence also came under deliberation as NAB was probing the case's financial aspects on the request of police authorities.

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