NAB to initiate corruption inquiry against BPSC chief

The BPSC chief allegedly made recruitments against Grade 16-18 posts after taking bribe.

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) decided on Tuesday to formally initiate investigations against the current chairman of the Balochistan Public Service Commission (BPSC) who allegedly made recruitments against Grade 16-18 posts after taking bribe.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Executive Board of NAB presided over by the bureau's Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bukhari.

The BPSC chairman is accused of taking Rs1.7 million for each post of head mistresses (BPS-17) and Rs4 million each for the posts of assistant commissioners against 800 vacancies of BPS 16-18.

He allegedly misused his authority and committed nepotism and corruption while making these appointments, according to a NAB statement.

"Since the chairman of the BPSC is an officer above BPS-19, the regional director general NAB does not have authority to initiate inquiry against him. Therefore, it has come from the NAB chairman himself," said a NAB official.

The official added that the investigations would also look for other officers who worked in connivance with the main accused. "More suspects would be netted as and when their names come up during the investigations," said the official.

Besides the BPSC chairman case, the bureau has decided to refer a corruption case against four former directors of Bank of Punjab (BoP) to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).  "The directors are accused of obtaining bank loans in violation of rules and regulations," said the NAB official.