The National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s Lahore chapter in its recently issued annual report claimed to make recoveries worth Rs 1.991 billion during the current year. The anti-graft watchdog said that it arrested 204 people on corruption charges including former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, former principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad, former Member of National Assembly Raja Qamarul Islam and former Punjab vice chancellor Mujahid Kamran. The report said that it received Rs 5 billion through indirect recoveries, adding that it initiated 196 inquiries of which 102 were completed within the year. NAB said that as many as 34 inquiries were started under its policy Accountability for All and over 50 cases were filed in the accountability courts. Meanwhile, the anti-graft watchdog has challenged the suspension of sentences of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Maryam Nawaz and Captain (r) Safdar in the Avenfield corruption reference. A two-member bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, gave the judgment on petitions filed by the three convicts challenging the Avenfield verdict against them. NAB has presented its final argument before accountability court in Al-Aziziya reference case at accountability court. Khawaja Harris, defence counsel of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, will present his conclusive arguments in the next hearings of the case. Published in Daily Times, December 11th 2018.