NAB brings back ‘matchless’ Saleem as DG Lahore

Saleem’s re-appointment is purely based on his performance from Apr 2017 till Dec 2021

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD:

In the first major reshuffle in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) since the PML-N came to power on April 11, NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has re-appointed Major (retd) Shahzad Saleem as Director General Lahore, replacing incumbent Jamil Ahmad.

The incumbent DG NAB Lahore has been transferred and posted as Director Awareness and Prevention Division at the NAB (HQ), Islamabad.

A few months back, Saleem was transferred and posted as Director Awareness and Prevention Division at the NAB (HQ), Islamabad but he had gone on leave.

Saleem’s appointment as the DG NAB Lahore comes after a change of regime as former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted from power through a successful vote of no confidence in the National Assembly on April 10.

Earlier when he was DG NAB Lahore, Saleem remained in the headlines for pursuing alleged corruption cases against former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, his brother and incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and their family members.

According to sources, Saleem’s re-appointment as DG NAB Lahore was purely based on his matchless performance from April 2017 till December 2021.

During his four year tenure as DG NAB Lahore, a total of Rs14.6 billion was recovered from the accused under plea bargains whereas during the last 16 years (2016-2000) a total of Rs17.7 billion was recovered through plea bargains and voluntary returns.

During the period, NAB Lahore arrested 708 accused whereas since the inception of the bureau in 2000 till 2016, NAB Lahore arrested as many as 1,073 accused persons.

Similarly, the sources added, during the tenure of Saleem, references worth Rs84.5 billion were filed in the accountability courts, whereas from 2000 till 2016, references worth Rs53.08 billion were filed.

Under Saleem’s command, the convocation rate of NAB Lahore was 74% in 2021, 78% in 2020, 70% in 2019, 83% in 2018 and 72% in 2017.

According to NAB’s official record, it had investigated more than 250 MPs since 2017 and filed as many as 513 references, investigations, inquiries and complaints against an alleged loss of nearly Rs700 billion to the national exchequer.

NAB had started nearly 450 inquiries against 210 leaders of the opposition parties. Eighty-six sitting and former lawmakers belonged to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), 62 were of PML-N, eight each of MQM-P, PML-Q and JUI-F, one each of PML-Zia, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party, QWP, BNP-M, six of ANP and three of National Party.

NAB started around 50 inquiries against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) lawmakers during the said period as well.

NAB had arrested 17 key leaders of the PML-N, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif, Shehbaz and Hamza Shehbaz, eight PPP leaders, including Asif Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Agha Siraj Durrani, Sharjeel Memon and Syed Khursheed Shah. Similarly, two leaders of PTI namely Aleem Khan and Sibtain Khan were also arrested during the period.

(With input from news desk)