Punjab’s anti-corruption dept recovered Rs220b during PTI govt: PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Punjab’s anti-corruption department had recovered Rs220 billion during the last 31 months of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government as compared to the dismal record of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s (PML-N) government’s 10-year tenure.

“The difference in anti-corruption [department] Punjab’s performance during PTI [government] and PML-N's 10 [years] is clearly visible in the results achieved so far,” the premier said on Twitter.

PM Imran further said that the state land worth Rs192 billion had been recovered as compared to Rs2.6 billion recovered under a decade of PML-N rule in the province.

“Cash recovery is Rs2.35bn as compared to only Rs430mn during PML-N's 10 [years]. Indirect cash recovery now stands at Rs26bn in contrast to zero during PML-N's last 10 [years],” the premier added.

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He added the same contrast was there in the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) performance as it had recovered Rs484 billion in the last three years (2018-2020) in contrast to Rs290 billion recovered during 1999-2017.

“When [government] does not protect the criminals and lets investigation agencies and accountability work without interference, results [are] achieved," the premier remarked

Two days ago, the premier praised NAB for recovering Rs484 billion in the last three years.  

On May 21, it was reported that the country's anti-graft body claimed to have recovered Rs23.85 billion in the fake bank accounts scam.

NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, chaired a meeting at its headquarters to review the performance of the anti-graft body's Rawalpindi wing.

NAB Deputy Chairman Hussain Asghar, Prosecutor General Accountability Syed Asghar Haider, Operations DG Zahir Shah, NAB Rawalpindi DG Irfan Naeem Mangi, and other senior officers were present in the meeting.

Mangi informed the participants of the meeting that NAB Rawalpindi had filed 14 references in the fake bank accounts scam which were under adjudication before the accountability courts in Islamabad.

He added that NAB Rawalpindi had also filed a reference against PML-N's Ahsan Iqbal, a former federal minister for planning and development, with an accountability court

The Narowal Sports City (NSC) project, formerly known as Sports Stadium Narowal, was initially conceived in 1999 on the directions of Ahsan “without any feasibility study and codal formalities as per law”.

The project was initially approved at a cost of Rs34.74 million by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), headed by Ahsan himself, who “in a case of conflict of interests diverted the funds for his political mileage”.