Panamagate case: NAB claims to have suggested formation of JIT

Statement says application filed in apex court to form investigation team

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau [NAB] had suggested the apex court to form an investigation team to probe the Panamagate case as a single agency could not investigate it, claims a NAB statement issued on Monday.

NAB had filed a civil miscellaneous application - CMA No 7127/2016 in const P No 26/2016 - in the Supreme Court in November 2016 in this regard.



The NAB statement read, “To probe the matter a broad-level data collection would be required by involving global networks in line with the requirements of international legal instruments, bilateral agreements and the domestic legislation of the countries concerned.

In order to achieve the objective, potential participation and input of various departments, regulators and stakeholders dealing with the subjects would be required, including FBR/Income Tax Departments, State Bank of Pakistan, Financial Monitoring Unit, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, etc. NAB would play its own role in sync with all other concerned agencies and stakeholders on the basis of incriminating material, constituting an offence under NAO 1999 in accordance with the law.”



The statement further read, NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, after his appointment, had evolved an effective anti-corruption strategy which is considered the best in SAARC countries. Transparency International, World Economic Forum and PILDAT have appreciated Pakistan’s decrease in Corruption Perception Index over the last three years due to NAB’s efforts.

NAB has filed more than hundreds of references in the accountability courts with 76 percent conviction ratio. NAB has also recovered Rs45 billion from corrupt people and deposited in the national exchequer. Out of the recovered amount, not a single penny was paid to any NAB officer/official.