NAB to introduce courses for staff’s capacity-building

Meeting reviews performance of graft buster, under-trial cases

ISLAMABAD:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had decided to introduce courses for the capacity-building of investigation officers and prosecutors and improve the functioning of the forensic science laboratory in order to improve the quality of its inquiries and investigations.

Chairing a high-level meeting, NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal directed the bureau’s officials to utilise all available resources to conclude the mega corruption and white-collar crimes cases on scientific basis so that the corrupt elements could be punished.

The meeting at the NAB headquarters was also attended by Deputy Chairman Hussain Asghar, Prosecutor General Accountability Syed Asghar Haider, Director General Operations Zahir Shah besides all directors general of the regional bureaus of the graft buster via video link.

The meeting decided to impart courses for capacity-building of investigation officers and prosecutors to enable them more to meet modern day requirements as per law, said a press release issued after the meeting.

It was also decided that the functioning of the forensic science laboratory would be improved so that the standard of inquiries and investigations could be enhanced on a scientific basis, the NAB press release added.

The meeting decided that the operations and prosecution divisions of NAB would jointly supervise the investigation officers, while prosecutors in the regional bureaus would pursue cases in the light of witnesses' statements after collecting evidence and verified documents.

The meeting reviews the performance of NAB headquarters and all regional bureaus besides the under-trial cases in accountability courts. The participants also discussed the standard of complaint verifications, inquiries, investigations and filling of references as per law.

On the occasion, the NAB chairman directed for utilising “all available resources” in concluding the mega corruption and white collar crimes cases on scientific basis so that the corrupt elements could be punished.

“The complaint verifications, inquiries and investigations should be taken to their logical conclusion by taking the benefit of the collective wisdom of the combined investigation team,” the press release quoted Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal as saying.

“Proper monitoring of the performance of NAB headquarters and all regional bureaus will be ensured on the directives of the chairman by ensuring persistent vigilance the required legal assistance could be provided if required,” the press release added.

There are more than 1,230 references under trial in different accountability courts. NAB has recovered Rs714 billion from corrupt elements, which had been deposited to the national exchequer.

The NAB chairman directed the bureaus to ensure that the cases should be pursued in an effective way and make every effort for the recovery of the looted money from corrupt events as per law. He added that NAB was making “sincere efforts for eradication of corruption”.

The meeting noted an increase in the receipt of complaints as compared to previous year, which, according to the press release, showed enhanced confidence of the people in NAB. Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal asked officers to conclude investigations, inquiries on merit and in a transparent way.