NAB can dispose of vital cases in 10 months: DG

Says NAB chairman has strengthened and reorganised the corruption watchdog.

Director General (DG) National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore Major (retd) Syed Burhan has said NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has strengthened the corruption watchdog to such a degree that it can dispose of important cases in ten months.

He said NAB was not responsible for cases against politicians, which have been pending with the body for the last 15 years. “The apex court asked us to provide a list of cases and we obeyed its directives,” he said, while talking to Imran Khan, the host of Express News talk show ‘Takrar’.

He said prior to appointment of the current chairman, NAB had got weakened and lacked manpower while it also did not have a permanent chairman.  “However, after his appointment in 2013, NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry revitalised the organisation,” he added.

Burhan said NAB has been working on these cases for the last many months and has established its internal monitoring team while it has also developed all its standard operating procedures.

“Now our job is just to investigate the facts and send cases onwards to the court,” he said, adding that NAB could extract money from all culprits if corruption is established. “If this happens, such politicians will also become ineligible to contest elections,” he added.

MQM’s controversy

Speaking at the show, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said every criminal apprehended in Karachi belongs to some political group.

MQM leader Ali Raza Abidi said bitterness had crept into Altaf Hussain’s statements due to the government’s unjust attitude towards the party.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Ali Muhammad Khan said the army did not fight for salaries. He said the government should take action against the MQM.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2015.