ISLAMABAD: A scrutiny committee headed by Establishment Secretary Tahir Shahbaz has served show-cause notices to over 100 senior officials of the National Accountability Bureau who are likely to be removed due to lack of requisite experience in dealing white-collar crime.

In the notices, the officials, including some serving on the posts of director general, have been asked to submit their replies within a week, a NAB official told Dawn on Tuesday.

These officials, who have decided the fate of hundreds of accused in corruption cases, are facing an inquiry on the orders of the Supreme Court which formed the scrutiny committee recently.

The establishment secretary had presented a report before the Supreme Court last month in a suo motu case on controversial appointments in NAB. The initial report presented by NAB before the committee regarding the status of about 100 officers also revealed their lack of requisite experience in the field of investigation.

However, the secretary asked the court that in order to meet all legal and constitutional requirements these officials should have been given show-cause notices so that each individual could get a chance to clarify his/her position.

According to the secretary’s report, which has become a part of the Supreme Court’s judgement issued on March 31, four directors general also do not meet the required criteria for holding the post — Husnain Ahmed (presently serving as DG headquarters), Zahir Shah (DG operations), Altaf Bawany (DG Karachi) and retired Brig Farooq Naser Awan (DG Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

The document said the NAB headquarters DG was inducted in 2004 in grade 19 and before this he was serving as SDO in the communications and works and veterinary departments in Punjab. He was appointed as DG in April 2013 and given grade 21. The officer has been accused of concealing facts regarding his withdrawal from the army on disciplinary grounds.

The NAB operations DG was inducted in 2004 in grade 19 when he was serving as a teacher at a government degree college in KP. He was made DG in April 2013 and was given grade 21.

The Karachi DG joined NAB in 2004 in grade 19 and was promoted to the post in April 2013. He was serving in the Board of Investment before his induction in NAB.

The KP DG was inducted in NAB in 2012 in grade 20 from the engineering branch of the army. He was made DG in April 2013 and given grade 21.

According to the NAB Employees Terms and Conditions of Service-2002, 12-year post-qualification experience is a must for the officials, after attaining grade 17, to become DG, in the fields of

investigation, inquiries, research, legal matters, training evaluation, prevention and awareness, media and financial crimes investigation.

Under the judgement of the Supreme Court delivered on March 31, some top officials of NAB were sent home for not meeting “requisite experience”.

The verdict said: “As regards the officers namely Maj (retired) Syed Burhan Ali, Maj (retired) Tariq Muhammad, Maj (retired) Shabbbir Ahmed and Ms Aliya Rasheed, they were not qualified to hold the respective posts in NAB.”

The appointment of Rawalpindi DG Nasir Iqbal is also in question as it was made after the removal of four directors general of NAB in view of the judgement for not meeting ‘requisite experience’.

Many attempts were made to contact NAB spokesman Nawaz Ali Asim but he was not available for the comment.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2017