Daily Times

Who will bell the cat? Who will watch the watchdog? Who will monitor the monitoring body? Who will catch the one who catches others? Who will nab the NAB? These are some simple questions with tough answers. Difficult because it is an “autonomous” state institution that has selective autonomy; difficult because these are state institutions answerable to its citizens but are instead answering to the government; difficult because they are supposed to be a-political but are t-political (totally political); difficult because the answers to these questions will point fingers at people who have an unwritten persecution immunity. Thus, the overwhelming question is what is NAB’s râison détre (reason to exist)? Again, the answer would be to reduce corruption in the country. However, when from every nook and corner the reason to be for an institution becomes a question mark, it is time for a diagnostic analysis.

An organisation that has to be a ruthless body of pursuing crooks and defaulters needs to have a ruthlessly clean and robust individual to head it. The fact of the matter is that NAB is an independent organisation and its head is still appointed by the Prime Minister and opposition leader. That is where the loophole lies. Unlike the army chief where top names after the screening on various criteria are forwarded to the PM for selection, NAB chief is a random pick whose qualification is tailored to suit the post. Right from the beginning, the appointment of Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry was questioned on the basis of a tainted past. More than him being an ADC of Ziaul Haq, his involvement in NICL scandal had made him a suspect choice. To cleanse this stain another eyewash investigation was made by NAB on its own prospective Chief and he was given a clean chit. A man who has been compromisingly accommodated in this chair will never question the accommodator. And that is precisely what he has done.

Let us first look at the figures. According to DG NAB Sirajul Naeem, daily corruption in Pakistan is $133 million which in Rupee terms per year amounts to Rs 4354 billion. According to NAB reports in the year 2016, they have managed to collect Rs 2.73 billion due to voluntary returns. An institution that has failed to recover even one-percent of the looted money itself has no reason to exist except to protect the big mafia. The whole concept of a plea bargain is an amnesty for the corrupt mafia and a mockery to the honest citizens. The sad part is that even the voluntary returns are just promises. Last year figures show that 285 people had plea bargained with the Bureau and agreed to pay Rs15.036 billion but deposited with NAB only Rs2.73 billion, which comes to only 18 percent of the minuscule plea bargain amount. So far 1584 government officers have been absolved of their corruption on a plea bargain. What was the original amount? What happened to their punishment? What was the follow-up action? Silence!

If 82 percent plea bargainers of the pittance plea bargain amount are left unpaid, the taxpayer needs to be explained why its money is being squandered by merry plea bargainers and sorry bargain providers. By definition a plea bargainer is a man who has confessed to the crime, has been declared as a convict, has legally signed up to pay back the looted amount and is under legal supervision. How is it then possible that these people come, pay the token of an already reduced amount, and then just roam around scot-free and refusing to pay the remaining? What is NAB doing if it is not even able to hold confessed convicts? It is busy doing what it is not supposed to do, i.e. catch people who cannot raise a voice or pull strings to negotiate loot deals. Supreme Court has reprimanded this institution for catching small fries and letting go of big fish. Justice Muslim Hani deplored that instead of laying its hands on the big players NAB was approving and pursuing the cases amounting to around Rs200,000, adding that there was hardly any difference between the anti-corruption department, the Federal Investigation Agency and NAB.

The problem with doing what their job is that they will first of all have to lay hands on the corruption within the bureau and also net those very people who have blessed them with this job. Justice Jawad Khawaja had categorically told NAB that 150 mega scandals were lying unattended for 20 years and action must be taken on them. 17 enquiries against the Prime Minister have been lying for decades, and after the constant warnings of Supreme Court, NAB started making some superficial efforts on reopening them.

The Prime Minister was incensed on this deviation of NAB and gave a clear warning to NAB to stay put. In February 2016, the PM in a media event threatened NAB that its powers would be clipped over what he termed “harassment of government officers.” He had said that bureaucrats were afraid of taking decisions because they were fearful of NAB harassment. He also stated that NAB terrified government officers and hindered them from performing their duties, while NAB officials entered the houses and offices of ‘innocent people’ without verifying the authenticity of the charges against them; and guess who agreed with the PM wholeheartedly, leader of the opposition, Khursheed Shah.

NAB spokesman quickly claimed that the government was not interfering with NAB’s work and that the Bureau would act upon the PM’s advice. “The non-interference policy of the government has helped NAB become an independent organisation, and it respects the opinion of Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif,” the spokesperson said. The harassment that NAB did to “innocent government officers like Mushtaq Raisani” is what must be in the Prime Minister’s mind while threatening NAB. After all, raiding private houses and discovering money pouring in from Car bumpers is highly indecent. The media and opposition making a hue and cry about the private domain of these “upright” officers are highly degrading.

Thus, the accountability of NAB is based on how successfully it suppresses cases of its bosses and their loyalists; it’s based on how successfully it accommodates and rewards political appointees; it’s based on how it successfully negotiates pittance with looters of mega robbery; and the accountability of NAB is made on how shamelessly it flouts court orders to capture the big and the powerful. This is why crime flourishes; this is why terror nourishes; this is why the poor perishes.

The writer is a columnist and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com