ISLAMABAD: The National Account­ability Bureau (NAB) has sent 105 of the total 179 mega corruption cases to relevant accountability courts.

This was disclosed at a meeting presided over by NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Wednesday to review progress on ongoing inquiries, complaint verification and investigations. The meeting also reviewed the overall performance of NAB’s operation and prosecution divisions.

It was revealed that 105 out of total 179 corruption cases had been filed in various accountability courts and were currently under trial.

The meeting was informed that 40 mega corruption cases had been disposed of while 15 were at the inquiry stage and 19 at the investigation level.

Addressing the meeting, the NAB chairman said that taking corruption-related cases to their logical conclusion was the top priority of the anti-graft watchdog and ordered the transfer of “low-magnitude cases” to other anti-corruption departments.

Justice Iqbal said that NAB had last year apprehended 503 persons, besides filing 440 corruption references in different accountability courts.

The meeting was told that 1,202 corruption references involving Rs900 billion were also under trial.

The NAB chairman said that the bureau — without any discrimination — had approved conducting 1,713 complaint verifications, 877 inquiries and 227 investigations last year. Under its new strategy, he added, NAB had set a timeline of 10 months to conclude corruption cases.

A forensic lab had also been established in the federal capital to help collect evidence with the help of fingerprints, mobile data and document verification in corruption cases, said Justice Iqbal.

He said that NAB was pursuing a policy of “accountability for all” as a sincere effort to eradicate corruption from the country.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2018