Pending cases: NAB devises plan to reduce backlog

Aims to streamline all stages including inquiries, investigations and court trials.

LAHORE:

With an eye transfixed on the increase in pending cases, the head of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has devised a plan to bring down the number of such cases on a monthly basis, The Express Tribune has learnt.

For this purpose, NAB chief Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has instructed all concerned officials to be more pro-active in discharging their responsibilities.

According to internal sources, the bureau has prepared an action plan for reducing pendency of cases on a monthly basis. The first such plan will come into force in the month of May.

Already, they said, the regional offices of NAB have initiated work to implement the action plan forwarded to them.

In a circular communicated to the regional bureaus for strict compliance, concern has been raised that despite hard earned taxpayers’ money being spent on NAB, it has not been able to decrease the pendency rate which highlights low productivity and reflects poorly on the institution.

In this context, Chaudhry has directed to immediately act upon an action plan from the ongoing month. The objective of the plan is to reduce the pendency rate of NAB cases, at all stages including Inquiries, Investigations and court trials.

According to the plan, the concerned wings and regions have been directed to re-prioritise the workload of Investigation Officers (IOs) on the basis of work done so far. The Inquiries/Investigations where 80% or more work has been done are to be concluded in a month’s time.

Cases required to be completed till May 30, 2014should successfully be completed without further extension. Observation/queries raised by high level committee on old cases should be addressed within the shortest possible time, sources privy to the development said.

The action plan also seeks enforcement of the concept of combined investigation teams (CITs) and case officers (COs) to discuss cases with their teams on a daily basis. The CITs are required to brief the director concerned twice a week.

The regional director generals (RDGs) have been directed to get briefing on a weekly basis from directors and a monthly basis from investigation teams. According to action plan, all the regional NABs are required to forward an updated list of ongoing inquires/investigations with timeline to the NAB headquarters on the third of every successive month.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2014.