National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday approved inquiries against Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health (SAPM) Dr Zafar Mirza and former health minister Amir Mehmood Kiyani, according to a press release issued by the bureau.

The decision to launch inquiries against the two officials was taken in a meeting of NAB's executive board on June 9 (Tuesday), the release said.

"NAB has approved inquiries against the former health minister Amir Mehmood Kiyani, various Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials," the press release said, adding that an additional inquiry to "inspect" a complaint against the incumbent SAPM on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza, was also approved.

"It has been NAB's policy to publicly release the minutes of our executive board's meetings," the watchdog said, adding that the purpose of releasing these details was not to hurt the sentiments of individuals named but to ensure transparency.

NAB clarified, however, that these inquiries weren't yet finalised and that its policy was to initially probe the complaints it receives and a decision to go ahead with full investigations is made only after receiving the points of view of named individuals.

The anti-graft watchdog said its courts across the country were currently investigating 1,229 cases of corruption, worth more than Rs900 billion.

It added that under the leadership of its chairman, Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, the bureau had recovered Rs178 billion from corrupt individuals and deposited the amount with the national treasury.