ISLAMABAD: Justice Mr. Javed Iqbal, Chairman NAB has said that eradication of corruption is vital to for strong economy and prosperity of the country. He said that NAB is absolutely committed to eradicate corruption with iron hands and to make Pakistan corruption free. He said this while chairing a meeting to review performance of NAB at NAB headquarters.
The Chairman NAB said that the year 2017 which can be called basically a year of re- invigoration of NAB, we have moved with new zeal and effort. Through detailed introspection and analysis of organizational weaknesses, overhaul of procedures and processes, all pillars of the organization i.e. Operations, Prosecution, Human Resource Development and Awareness and Prevention have been reactivated.
The Chairman NAB said that the concept of a “Combined Investigation Team” (CIT) has been introduced in NAB where two investigation officers and a legal consultant are working as a team for a fair, transparent and unbiased, inquiry/ investigations as per law. He said that NAB has decided to fix time limit for each step of enforcement i.e. 2 months for Complaint Verification, 4 months for Inquiry & 4 months for Investigation. A total of 10 months have been laid down from complaint verification to inquiry-inquiry to investigation-investigation to filling of reference in the respective Accountability Court to its logical conclusion as per law.
The Chairman NAB said that Transparency International has rated Pakistan in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 175 to 116 which is a great achievement for Pakistan due to NAB efforts. This is because of effective Anti Corruption Strategy of NAB which has started yielding positive dividends. Similarly PILDAT have indicated that 42 percent people have confidence on NAB as compared to FIA and Police. The World Economic Forum and Mishal Pakistan according to Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum rated Pakistan from 126 to 122 this year which is great achievement of Pakistan due to NAB efforts.
He said that NAB officers are considering eradication of corruption as their national duty. Serious efforts to combat corruption have been started by NAB with the realization that eradication of corruption from Pakistan is not only NAB’s responsibility but it is our collective social responsibility; that it would result in common good and that we all are together in eradication of corruption from Pakistan. Due to this reason, NAB is determined for corruption free Pakistan. He directed all officers of NAB to demonstrate absolute fairness and transparency as per law in discharge of their national duties.