National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Public Accounts Committee are two prestigious institutions in Pakistan. In this article, you will learn about the role of the NAB and Public Accounts Committee in Pakistan.
NAB and Public Accounts Committee in Pakistan
The first question came to mind has NAB played any role in eradicating corruption in Pakistan? Has there been any performance of NAB? Has the NAB been a tool of political engineering in the country? Is there corruption in NAB? Whose signals has the NAB been following?
People also raise many questions about the performance and policies of the outgoing NAB chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal. Has he not made the NAB so controversial that today the survival of the NAB has also become a question mark. That is why today’s legislation is emerging with regard to NAB which could not have been imagined before Justice (R) Javed Iqbal.
Today it is common knowledge that NAB and Pakistan cannot go together. Not only politicians but also the bureaucracy and the business community are pushing for the abolition of NAB. And they have decided that as long as the NAB exists, it will not work.
Public Accounts Committee Chairman Noor Alam Khan in a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly has also ordered an investigation into the assets of NAB officers and personnel. I think that’s a good command. There are many famous stories about NAB. It is difficult to say whether they are true or false, but circumstances testify in favor of these stories.
Is everything alright in NAB? The only answer is that not everything is right in the NAB. The investigation is not good there. Inquiries there are not transparent. No one understands which case should be closed and which case should be closed. There is definitely a question about transparency in decisions. That’s why there are stories.
It has also been observed that sometimes the big issues are shown to be cold and sometimes the NAB seems to be very active on small and minor issues. Somewhere there is silence on billions and somewhere there is silence on millions. The biggest recommendation in society was made by the NAB officers. The government officials did not dare to do their job. Postponing the officers’ inquiries for several months was also a way to keep them under pressure.
The letter of inquiry of NAB prevents their promotions and postings. Even if this inquiry has not been pending for many years. Therefore, the anger of the bureaucracy is not unreasonable.
There are good people in NAB too. But it is also a fact that in the case of business people, stories have come to light. Stories have surfaced in the plebiscite. In the past too, when the NAB chairman was summoned by the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, attempts were made to make him a big issue. But I think the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly should have the right to hold the NAB accountable.
The NAB cannot be exempted from this accountability. It has been discouraged in the past. An attempt was made to avoid accountability by setting up an inquiry against anyone who tried to question the NAB. The same has been done in the case of Noor Alam today. But I understand how much the NAB has recovered so far.
How transparent is the system of inquiries in NAB? What are the rules of a plebiscite? Why is it discretionary? Why the NAB has not made any clear rules on this to date. Why the new rule appears in each case. Who will be responsible for all this? The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly is its best forum. I am in favor of the provision of the new legislation that NAB should not make public the details of any inquiry till the case is finalized. This media trial policy has not benefited or harmed the NAB.
The NAB must understand that it cannot win the media war. That’s not his job. The wrong reference should be punished. How should one be allowed to play with one’s life? There should be punishment.
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