ISLAMABAD: The federal ombudsman has held the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) accountable for not making payments to a citizen for six years.

Following the intervention of Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz, a book binder from Karachi finally received Rs1.44 million from NAB as outstanding dues against his services for the bureau, said a handout issued by the ombudsman’s office here on Tuesday.

Mohammad Yameen had filed a complaint with the ombudsman against the delay in payment of dues for services of photocopying and book binding provided by him to NAB from 2006 to 2015.

In his complaint, he had stated that Rs1,710,756 was outstanding against the bureau.

The book binder approached the office of the federal ombudsman in December 2020 for the resolution of his grievances.

NAB informed the ombudsman that the complainant provided his services in the office of NAB Karachi which had been directed to make payments to him after fulfilling codal formalities.

“After proving maladministration on the part of the bureau, the ombudsman directed NAB to pay the outstanding dues to the book binder within 30 days. Now the agency has released the payment of Rs14,44,863 to the complainant who has confirmed the receipt of his outstanding dues from NAB after a lapse of more than six years,” said the handout.

The complainant thanked the ombudsman for the resolution of his grievance, it said.

A spokesman for the ombudsman’s office said NAB had made the payment after deducting some of the amount as per the rules.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2021