NAB issues list of 105 proclaimed offenders, absconders
Photographs, CNICs and known residential addresses included in the list
He said nine proclaimed offenders were also arrested. STOCK IMAGE
KARACHI:
Hours after the Sindh High Court (SHC) passed orders that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would continue operating in the province and also sought a list of Sindh Assembly members, both former and current, facing corruption charges, the NAB, Karachi issued a list of 105 proclaimed offenders and absconders as part of a campaign to arrest the maximum number of accused.
The list contained the names of accused proclaimed offenders, titles of the reference, their computerised national identity card numbers, remarks, cities of residence and pictures. The name of the former administrator of Karachi, Saqib Soomro, is also included in the list.
"The list of proclaimed offenders and absconders has been revised to include the names of accused persons at large as of today, containing their names, CNICs, pictures and known residential addresses," said the director-general of NAB Karachi in a statement.
In this regard, the top accountability body has constituted teams to take steps to ensure the arrest of the maximum number of accused. According to the communiqué, letters have been written to the authorities concerned to seek their assistance under Section 27 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 for ‘causing the arrest of such accused persons and their production before the respective accountability courts’.
Sindh governor shoots down NAB ordinance repeal bill
Several references filed in the accountability courts have suffered inordinate delays in conclusion of trials due to non-production of various accused persons, it said. "However, the official figures reflect that over the last three years NAB Karachi has been successful in arresting 148 proclaimed offenders and absconders," it added. Further, the said list has also been shared with the immigration and bank authorities to prevent the suspects from fleeing the country and to block their banking transactions respectively.
In July, while rejecting Governor Mohammad Zubair's rejection of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Sindh Repeal Bill, 2017, the cabinet approved the Sindh Accountability Agency Bill, 2017, which will replace the NAB Ordinance in the province.
On August 13, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had warned that the provincial government would take action against NAB if it interfered in the affairs of its departments after the province's own anti-graft law.
However on August 16, the SHC allowed NAB to resume work after lawmakers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a petition in the court.
PTI challenges repealing of NAB ordinance
NAB has been receiving criticism from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for only targeting lawmakers of Sindh, particularly those belonging to the PPP.
A close aide of former president and PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, Dr Asim Hussain is facing corruption references pertaining to land fraud amounting to Rs9.5 billion, money laundering of Rs3 billion, and misuse of authority and criminal breach of trust through a fertiliser scam of Rs450 billion.
NAB had also accused him of illegally awarding gas contracts to a privately-managed gas processing company, Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited, to process gas from government-owned gas fields without an open auction, causing a loss of Rs17.34 billion to the national exchequer. He was also accused of providing treatment and shelter to criminals at his hospitals at the behest of leaders belonging to various political parties. The Sindh High Court on March 29 had approved the bail plea of the former petroleum minster in the corruption cases against him.
NAB in good form despite ordinance repeal
Besides Dr Asim, some other prominent personalities belonging to the PPP had been on NAB’s radar as in October 2016, the bureau filed before the administrative judge of the accountability courts a reference against former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and others for committing corruption in the award of advertisements of provincial government's awareness campaigns in the electronic media involving over Rs5 billion, while the former director-general of the Karachi Building Control Authority, now the Sindh Building Control Authority, Manzur Kaka's name is also on the bureau’s radar.
Hours after the Sindh High Court (SHC) passed orders that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would continue operating in the province and also sought a list of Sindh Assembly members, both former and current, facing corruption charges, the NAB, Karachi issued a list of 105 proclaimed offenders and absconders as part of a campaign to arrest the maximum number of accused.
The list contained the names of accused proclaimed offenders, titles of the reference, their computerised national identity card numbers, remarks, cities of residence and pictures. The name of the former administrator of Karachi, Saqib Soomro, is also included in the list.
"The list of proclaimed offenders and absconders has been revised to include the names of accused persons at large as of today, containing their names, CNICs, pictures and known residential addresses," said the director-general of NAB Karachi in a statement.
In this regard, the top accountability body has constituted teams to take steps to ensure the arrest of the maximum number of accused. According to the communiqué, letters have been written to the authorities concerned to seek their assistance under Section 27 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 for ‘causing the arrest of such accused persons and their production before the respective accountability courts’.
Sindh governor shoots down NAB ordinance repeal bill
Several references filed in the accountability courts have suffered inordinate delays in conclusion of trials due to non-production of various accused persons, it said. "However, the official figures reflect that over the last three years NAB Karachi has been successful in arresting 148 proclaimed offenders and absconders," it added. Further, the said list has also been shared with the immigration and bank authorities to prevent the suspects from fleeing the country and to block their banking transactions respectively.
In July, while rejecting Governor Mohammad Zubair's rejection of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Sindh Repeal Bill, 2017, the cabinet approved the Sindh Accountability Agency Bill, 2017, which will replace the NAB Ordinance in the province.
On August 13, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had warned that the provincial government would take action against NAB if it interfered in the affairs of its departments after the province's own anti-graft law.
However on August 16, the SHC allowed NAB to resume work after lawmakers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a petition in the court.
PTI challenges repealing of NAB ordinance
NAB has been receiving criticism from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for only targeting lawmakers of Sindh, particularly those belonging to the PPP.
A close aide of former president and PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, Dr Asim Hussain is facing corruption references pertaining to land fraud amounting to Rs9.5 billion, money laundering of Rs3 billion, and misuse of authority and criminal breach of trust through a fertiliser scam of Rs450 billion.
NAB had also accused him of illegally awarding gas contracts to a privately-managed gas processing company, Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited, to process gas from government-owned gas fields without an open auction, causing a loss of Rs17.34 billion to the national exchequer. He was also accused of providing treatment and shelter to criminals at his hospitals at the behest of leaders belonging to various political parties. The Sindh High Court on March 29 had approved the bail plea of the former petroleum minster in the corruption cases against him.
NAB in good form despite ordinance repeal
Besides Dr Asim, some other prominent personalities belonging to the PPP had been on NAB’s radar as in October 2016, the bureau filed before the administrative judge of the accountability courts a reference against former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and others for committing corruption in the award of advertisements of provincial government's awareness campaigns in the electronic media involving over Rs5 billion, while the former director-general of the Karachi Building Control Authority, now the Sindh Building Control Authority, Manzur Kaka's name is also on the bureau’s radar.