ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Thursday that the National Accountability Bureau had filed 948 corruption references since 2013.

Responding to a question by Senator Suraiya Jatoi during a Senate session, Minister for Law Zahid Hamid said in a written reply that compared with 95 corruption references filed in 2013, as many as 155 references were filed in 2014, another 286 in the following year and nearly 300 in 2016. As many as 113 corruption references have been filed till March this year. The highest numbers of corruption references were filed in Punjab — more than 150.

The minister told the Senate that 3,000 inquiries were authorised throughout the country against corruption cases registered in NAB during the period from January 2013 to March 2017.

Compared with total 284 inquiries in 2014, more than 900 inquiries against corruption were initiated in 2016 countrywide. As many as 105 inquiries have already been launched till March this year.

The Senate was informed that the highest numbers of inquiries were initiated in Punjab — as many as 438 — followed by 246 in Sindh and 151 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to Mr Hamid, the number of investigations into corruption cases increased from 124 in 2013 to 390 in 2016, besides another 60 investigations launched from January to March this year. More than 220 investigations against corruption were authorised in Punjab followed by 96 in Sindh and 12 in KP.

In reply to a question by Senator Suraiya Jatoi about the total amount recovered, Mr Hamid said that NAB had recovered a total of Rs36.3 billion since 2013.

The law minister said that Rs7bn was recovered in 2013, Rs3.54bn in 2014 and Rs12.1bn in 2015. The highest amount recovered by NAB is Rs13bn in 2016. Nearly Rs0.9bn has been recovered till March this year.

In response to another question, the law minister said that more than 580 cases of corruption had been settled through plea bargain from 2013 to March 2017.

According to the minister, the highest number of corruption cases — 95 — was settled through plea bargain in Sindh. Nearly 90 cases of corruption were settled in Punjab and 37 in KP.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2017