December 6, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 1,1423

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LAHORE, Dec 5: The National Accountability Bureau has decided to “temporarily” suspend its accountability drive against politicians following the establishment of a new democratic setup.

The NAB would now limit its accountability campaign against bureaucrats and officials of different government departments suspected of corruption.

Sources informed Dawn on Thursday that for the time being the NAB would be maintaining a silent policy vis-a-vis suspect politicians by deferring their interrogation sine die.

“However, the NAB would continue to closely watch those suspected of corruption in the past and now elected to the assemblies,” they said.

The sources said it was difficult to predict exactly when the accountability drive against politicians would again be taken up but for the time being its all silence on this front.

They added that the accountability courts currently trying different politicians on corruption charges would proceed in accordance with the law and no signals for the withdrawal of these references had been received as yet.

It is learnt that this stance is based on an apprehension of the NAB high-ups that any arrest of a politician at this stage could harm the working of the newly-established democratic setup. It is also feared that any action against the politicians can create ill-feelings against the NAB and give the impression that it was indulging in political victimization.

In Punjab, PML-N acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi was the last politician to be arrested by the NAB authorities on corruption charges. Since December 2001, no politician has been arrested by the NAB in Punjab.

A recently-introduced amendment to the NAB Ordinance asking the NAB chairman to consult both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition on important issues including that of interrogation and prosecution of the politicians is aimed at limiting powers of the bureau with regard to the political accountability, claims a source.

Sources acknowledge that over three-year-long pendency of references filed against politicians like Faisal Saleh Hayat, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Ghulam Murtaza Khar, Haji Nawaz Khokhar can also be one of the reasons for temporarily suspending the NAB drive.

Moreover, references filed during 2000 and after against Hakim Ali Zardari, Jehangir Badr, Rana Nazir, Khush Akhtar Subhani, Abdul Sattar Vario, Mushtaq Awan, Mohammad Iqbal Tikka have also yet to see their fate despite the spending of millions of rupees by the NAB.

Another reason cited behind this policy is the high percentage of convictions set aside by the high courts.

The Lahore High Court alone has granted relief to former Punjab chief minister Manzoor Wattoo (in three references), former chairman Public Accounts Committee Hakim Ali Zardari, former petroleum minister Anwar Saifullah Khan and former provincial education minister Riaz Fatiyana (in two references) against their respective convictions by the trial courts.

As claimed by the NAB, some 307 inquiries against the politicians all over Pakistan were entrusted to the NAB in November 1999, out of which 114 were finalised as NAB references, while another 71 had been closed down for lacking incriminating evidence.