ISLAMABAD: The Nati­onal Accountability Bureau on Thursday decided not to share with media information about ongoing inquiries and investigations in the light of amendments made by the present coalition government to the accountability law through the NAB (Second Amendment) Act 2022.

NAB also constituted a special committee to review the pending inquiries and investigations before the bureau, besides deciding to close over a dozen investigations due to lack of evidence.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the NAB Executive Board, the highest consultative forum of the bureau. The meeting was presided over by acting NAB chairman Zahir Shah, according to an official handout.

The special committee, headed by the director general NAB headquarters, will submit a preliminary report on continuing or closing or referring the cases to the relevant department as per the law. The report will be presented before the executive board for further review and approval.

Taking a significant step, the NAB officials also decided not to share with media the details of authorised inquiries and investigations in compliance with the amended law.

“NAB is a people-friendly institution. It believes in preserving the self-esteem of every individual,” said the handout in an apparent reference to the criticism by the politicians and bureaucrats that NAB is used by those in power for political victimisation and character-assassination of the opponents.

The NAB executive board decided to close a number of inquiries and investigations due to lack of court worthy and incrementing evidence. The board authorised closing inquiries against the administration of Benazir Income Support Progra­mme, officers/officials of Karakoram International University (Gilgit-Baltis­tan), Barrister Sheikh Abid Waheed, former managing director of Pakistan Baitul Maal; retired Major Syed Khalid Amin Shah, chief security officer of the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA); Saleem Hassan Wattoo, former director general of PDA; Amin Vance, former CCPO Lahore; Zulfikar Ghuman, DG Sports Board, Punjab; Muhammad Ramzan Awan, former secretary of local government department, Sindh; retired Professor Dr Azam Hussain Yousfani, vice chancellor of People University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Shaheed Benazirabad; Akbar Durrani, former home secretary of Balochistan; officers/officials and contractors of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, and against Shahid Hussain Asad, former additional secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

The NAB executive board authorised filing of a reference against Meraj A. Syed, former chief hydrographer at the Gwadar Port Authority, and others for alleged misuse of authority and embezzlement of state funds amounting to Rs794 million.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2022