ISLAMABAD: National Account­ability Bureau (NAB) chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal has submitted a report to the Supreme Court, which is seized with a suo motu case regarding delay in trials by accountability courts.

The chairman assured the apex court that he would be personally reviewing and evaluating the reports submitted by each regional office of the bureau on a monthly basis about the progress made in corruption references.

The report said the director general (operations) had been told to personally engage with all regional director generals to oversee the progress in trials and determine whether it was satisfactory or not and take remedial measures.

The report said it had been decided in principle that for high-profile cases, senior advocates with vast experience and good reputation would be hired on a case-to-case basis.

These advocates will be reporting to the DG of the region concerned on a regular basis and updating him on the progress of the cases.

“NAB will also make requests to DG FIA and all provincial inspectors general of police and other investigating agencies which have experienced officers in the field of investigation, especially white-collar crime, to seek their services for NAB on a deputation basis,” the report said.

“This will help in improving the quality of investigations,” the report said, adding that all the training institutes in Pakistan like Sihala Police Academy, IB Academy and other reputable local and foreign institutions would be requested to deliver lectures to the investigators and prosecutors of NAB regarding detection of the white-collar crime and its prosecution.

The report said it had been decided that all training institutions in Pakistan would be requested for allocation of permanent seats for NAB personnel for training. “Likewise, requests are also being sent to the agencies and departments concerned, which have trained prosecutors, to hire their services,” the report said, adding that the prosecution department was being further strengthened by creating positions commensurate with the status of lawyers so that respectable and reasonable lawyers could join NAB to prosecute high-profile cases.

Moreover, it said, a legal integration programme had been launched at the NAB headquarters and would be gradually expanded to each region to ensure that the operation and prosecution wings worked in tandem and supplemented each other to enhance the conviction rate, which was currently 61 per cent.

The report explained that the white-collar crime was a non-violent crime yet the financial gain, benefit and target achieved were virtually by deception and illegal means and modes due to its peculiar nature, characteristics and the technicalities involved the detection of this crime was difficult and it was even more difficult to prove it.

“Therefore, to cope up with the difficulty after due deliberations, it has been decided by NAB to engage eminent chartered accountants, experienced and reputable bankers, income tax experts and eminent lawyers and tax practitioners and experts from the forensic laboratory of the Punjab government to handle and assist NAB in its inquiry to assist the teams constituted and facilitate them in this complicated and tedious work to detect and prove the crime,” the report said.

“These people will be hired on a case to case basis and their services will be utilised to ensure better investigation by employing their expertise and seek benefit from the latest technology,” the report said.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2020