ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Monday directed all nine regional headquarters of the bureau that no complaints would be rejected or approved without his consent.

According to a NAB press release, the decision was made in a meeting held at its headquarters which was attended by senior officials of the bureau.

A senior official of NAB told Dawn that each regional headquarters had a complaint scrutiny committee (CSC) which decided whether the complaint was genuine or not.

The total time set for complaint verification was two months and the committee had to reject or accept the complaint within the stipulated time, he added.

The CSC was bound to call the complainant and verify whether he/she had submitted the complaint or it had been filed by someone else in his/her name, the NAB official explained, adding that once the committee made a decision the matter was sent to the director general concerned for final approval.

However, according to the NAB spokesman, the chairman had now decided that only he would approve or reject the complaints and make the CV system more effective and transparent to promptly redress grievances of the complainants.

Meanwhile, the NAB chairman took notice of the bureau’s alleged negligence in investigating corruption in the mines and mineral department of Punjab. He took the decision in view of an advertisement published in newspapers regarding alleged corruption in reserves of minerals in Chiniot.

He sought report in the regard from NAB Lahore asking on what basis the regional bureau closed the inquiry in the past and also ordered stern action against the officials involved.

NAB PROSECUTOR GENERAL: Newly-appointed NAB’s prosecutor general retired Justice Syed Asghar Haider has joined as head of the bureau’s legal wing. The NAB chairman welcomed the prosecutor general accountability on board and hoped that the performance of the bureau would improve after his induction.

In a separate decision, the chief did not extend the deputation period of NAB’s director general human resource management, Muhammad Shakil Malik, and asked him to report to the Establishment Division.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2018