SHC seeks record of inquiries by NAB in the province

Bench wants anti-graft watchdog to furnish complete details by October 6

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Wednesday the director-general (DG) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to appear, along with the entire record of inquiries initiated by the anti-graft watchdog, in the last five years in the province.

Headed by the SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, the bench also directed the NAB DG to explain how many inquiries were taken to their logical end. Further, the DG will furnish complete details of pending inquiries and investigations by October 6.



The bench passed these directives while hearing a petition filed by a private contractor, who had approached the court against alleged harassment by the NAB authorities.

The petitioner, Pharas Ram Maheshwari, said the anti-graft watchdog had initiated an inquiry into alleged corruption in a development scheme initiated in Umerkot district two years ago. His lawyer, Javed Altaf, told the judges that the petitioner, who was a contractor, was summoned by the NAB officials for questioning.

He alleged the petitioner cooperated with the investigators, but the inquiry had yet to be completed despite the lapse of two years.



On the other hand, a prosecutor for the NAB requested for time to file comments. This visibly irked the judges, who came down hard on the NAB authorities for delay in the inquiries. SHC CJ Sheikh remarked that NAB spends more money than the amount involved in the graft scams.

Taking notice of such an attitude, the bench directed the NAB DG to appear along with the entire record of the inquiries initiated by the bureau in the province in the last five years. He was further directed to clearly mention the exact number of pending inquiries and how many had been concluded. The hearing was adjourned till October 6.

Pending inquiries

A day earlier, the same bench had, on the opposition parties' petitions, allowed NAB to continue with pending inquiries and investigations in Sindh till September 11.



Filing identical petitions, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Muslim League - Functional, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and others had challenged the recently enacted provincial anti-graft law that clipped NAB's powers to operate in Sindh and transferred all inquiries to the provincial anti-corruption authority.

The court had also sought details of pending inquiries against the sitting and former lawmakers and serving and retired government officers in the province.

Submitting its details, NAB had told the court on Tuesday that 15 lawmakers and hundreds of government officers and officials were facing inquiries in Sindh.