Daily Times

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) came into existence on 16 Nov 1999. Simultaneously the Special Investigation Wings (SIWs) was created from within the ISI to assist NAB in collecting relevant information about their cases.

FIA and ACE directors of all four provinces were placed under direct command with investigation officers and allied staff for conduct of probes, inquiries/investigation and filing of references by NAB. Regional Accountability Bureaus (RAB) were set up, eventually becoming Regional NABs under the directions of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan.

Command of these Regional NABs were given to selected career officers of the three Services- Peshawar to the Air force, Rawalpindi to the Navy and the remaining three, Karachi, Lahore and Quetta to the Army, while the rest of its employees were made up of people from a diverse mix of backgrounds. In 2004 NAB finally got the chance to recruit their own team of professionals, and by 2008 all the Armed Forces members were dispensed with as well.

NAB’s first Chairman Lt Gen Amjad was a person of great integrity and honesty, and under his tutelage the bureau became a huge deterrent to corruption, especially in its early days when the anti-graft law allowed unlimited detention period, without an allowance for judicial interjection. Unfortunately, his one mistake was selecting his personal friends as his top aides, and they soon discovered that their position gave them the chance to line their own pockets. They also managed to get some very honest and dedicated senior officers, like Maj Gen Inayetullah Khan Niazi, posted out of NAB for their gain.

While pursuing Musharraf’s personal agendas, these people were given virtual impunity and were never held accountable for their actions. Cooperative Housing Scams, bank defaults, and mega corruption cases were utilized as pressure points for bargaining with political opponents. Their actions enabled Musharraf to politicise the Bureau for political benefits, even helping him create the Q-League Government. Eventually Gen Amjad got wind of what was going on, and being a man of honour, he resigned from his post immediately.

One high profile case was that of Usman Farooqi, the Chairman of Pakistan Steel Mill, who allegedly embezzled millions of rupees and almost bankrupted the organisation itself. Farooqi was eventually arrested and sent to jail, but he managed to escape soon after

Lt Gen Amjad’s successor was Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool, who was later rewarded for his loyalty by being appointed the Governor of Punjab. However, during his tenure at the helm of NAB, the agency deteriorated further, as it blatantly followed the mandate provided by the Musharraf regime. Its reputation further took a hit when Finance Minister (and later PM) of Pakistan, Shoukat Aziz, took stock exchanges and other financial institutions virtually out of the control of NAB. He did this based on the rationale that accountability hurts financial institutions and therefore the economy.

Lt Gen Munir Hafeez had the longest tenure as a NAB Chairman, first in uniform and then under provision of law as a retired BPS-22 officer. He was the first NAB Chairman to openly use his position in order to grant favours to his cronies, and to benefit his own private businesses. His successor Lt Gen Aziz didn’t fare any better, although not for a lack of trying. He soon became disillusioned with the politicization of NAB, and decided to quit soon after being appointed. After Musharraf essentially legalised corruption by the NRO, NAB’s accountability became a laughing stock.

When Asif Ali Zardari became President, NAB understandably declined even further, as many of the cases they had to face were about Zardari himself. Under his tenure, cases against Malik Riaz, and then CJP Iftikhar’s son Arsalan were dropped, and incidents like Pakistan’s former High Commissioner in the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasanon seizing evidence from courts in Switzerland pertaining to the Rockwood Estate case, and making them disappear, became common place.

One high profile case was that of Usman Farooqi, the Chairman of Pakistan Steel Mill, who allegedly embezzled millions of rupees and almost bankrupted the organization itself. After strenuous investigation, Farooqi was eventually arrested and sent to jail, but he managed to escape soon after. His high profile connections aided him in his attempt to subvert justice and today he is living as a free man.

To some extent Qamar zaman Chaudhry managed to somewhat restore NAB’s image, but even he faltered when it came to persecuting the Sharifs; primarily out of personal loyalty and due to a lack of support from the SC. The situation is slightly different today however, as the current CJP is on a virtual “Jihad” against corruption and this is why NAB’s Chairman Justice Javed Iqbal has been able to bring a renewed energy into NAB, making it as effective as it was during its first few years.

Now that the NAB finally has the freedom to pursue the corrupt factions in our society with complete impunity, it might be time for them to bring to justice the former NAB employees and directors who used the bureau for their own benefit. Self- accountability might help restore faith in NAB’s capabilities, and instil fear in the hearts of the corrupt in this country.

The writer is a defence and security analyst

Published in Daily Times, July 6^th 2018.