ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Thursday said accountability of the current rulers would start after making those accountable who had remained in power during the past 40 years.

“We will conduct accountability of those who remained in power during last 35 to 40 years and the turn of those who are serving (now) will come later,” he said at a ceremony held to distribute cheques among people who were affected by corrupt practices.

Although the anti-graft watchdog chief did not name any politician who enjoyed power during the past 35 to 40 years, it is obvious that he was talking about the leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“There is a class that remained in power for the past 40 years, while another community just spent around 12 months in government,” he added.

The NAB chief, however, said the bureau was conducting across-the-board accountability without having any political agenda against any group or party.

Justice Iqbal said NAB was pursuing only one-point agenda to purge the country of corruption and corrupt elements.

Pakistan was not among developed nations because of corrupt elements, he said.

He said there would be accountability of all those who indulged in corrupt practices and made assets and properties illegally in the country and abroad.

He said all measures required to recover the looted money from plunderers would be taken. “NAB has affiliation with the state only since governments come and go.”

The NAB chief regretted that the accused of corruption came out on production orders and levelled allegations of political victimisation. He advised them to spend their precious time on proving themselves innocent.

He said he or NAB officials never met any parliamentarian.

Justice Iqbal said there was no question of showing any leniency towards corrupt elements, vowing that NAB was after the corrupt elements in letter and spirit.

Unfortunately, he said, in the past there was an impression that influential people could not be questioned for their wrongdoings.

He said self-respect of all under-investigation accused was ensured, adding that the accused were handcuffed only after judicial proceedings.

The NAB chairman said corruption and money laundering cases had been framed on the basis of sufficient information and solid evidence, which would prove in the due course of time. There was solid evidence of billions of rupee money laundering, he said.

He said more expertise was needed to unearth white-collar crimes, for which efforts were being made to establish a specialised institution or get services of experts for training of NAB investigation officers on modern lines.

Justice Iqbal said he had assured the country’s bureaucracy that NAB would cause no disturbance in working of upright officers and said he was always available to facilitate them and address their concerns.

He said NAB had so far deposited around Rs326 billion in the national exchequer after recovering from plunderers, out of which Rs15.25bn was recovered in the past twelve months.

Justifying the NAB budget, he said all funds allocated to the bureau were being utilised judiciously, saying the bureau had recovered the looted money many times more than its expenditure.

He appreciated NAB’s performance and assured the people affected by scams in housing societies and modaraba companies that their looted money would be returned to them.

He also highlighted responsibilities of civic bodies and media in keeping an eye on fraudsters and making the public aware of cheaters.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2019