ISLAMABAD: The National Account­ability Bureau (NAB) on Friday approved filing of three references.

One of the references will be filed against former information minister and leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sharjeel Inam Memon and anther against former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Irfan Khalil Qureshi. The third reference is against Abdul Hameed and others for allegedly awarding contracts illegally.

NAB started investigation against Mr Memon in July over allegations of corruption and money laundering and owning assets in the name of his dependants and benamidars. The PPP leader is also accused of awarding advertisements at ‘exorbitant rates’ when he was Sindh’s information minister. He was arrested by NAB in 2017, but he is currently on bail.

The reference against Mr Qureshi relates to misuse of authority and supply of oil to different companies allegedly in an illegal manner which cost the national exchequer Rs522 million.

The reference against Abdul Hameed and others is allegedly for misuse of authority and illegal award of construction contracts to companies which, according to NAB, caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national kitty.

Besides, the NAB executive board headed by chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal approved 12 inquires against former minister Babar Khan Ghori, former principal secretary to the prime minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, Senator Kalsoom Perveen, Sindh Assembly member Syed Awais Shah, Punjab Assembly member Qaiser Abbas Magsi, the managing director of the Education Employees Foundation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, former sessions judge Khizer Hayat and several officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Port Qasim Authority and other government officials.

Interestingly, the NAB chairman decided not to investigate the matters related to sales tax and income tax and referred such pending inquiries to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Besides, the bureau sent the inquiries against some government officials to their respective departments for disciplinary proceedings. For example, a case related to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has been referred to the PMDC registrar and another against Multan Electric Power Company’s officials to the Ministry of Energy. Similarly, cases against former chief secretary of KP Amjad Ali, officials of irrigation, works and Lady Reading Hospital have been sent to the province’s incumbent chief secretary for disciplinary proceedings.

The NAB executive board closed inquiries against Farooq Nazir, former inspector general (prison); Absar Nabi, former principal executive officer of Pakistan Steel Mills; Dr Joseph Wilson, acting chairman of the Competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP); Rana Mustafa, CCP’s former principal staff officer; and some officials of the KP Ehtesab Commission, Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Punjab Mineral Company and the forest department (Hyderabad).

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2019