National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said that the NAB was committed to eradicating the menace of corruption for country’s progress and prosperity.
Addressing a ceremony organised by King Edward Medical University (KEMU) here, he said that corruption has been the root cause of all evils as it hinders development of the country.
The chairman said that the NAB had directly or indirectly recovered looted money of rupees 71 billion and deposited the same into national exchequer during last 22 months, adding that he aaid NAB is mandated to probe the accused about looted state money and NAB would continue to perform its responsibilities further, he maintained.
Javed Iqbal said that NAB believes in rule of law as it has no any affiliation with any group or individual. The NAB has, so far, filed around 1230 References pertaining to Rs 900 billion rupees (approx) in accountability courts, he said and added that it was also decided to submit applications in Accountability Courts for early hearing of filed References.
The chairman rejected the false impression that the Bureau is hindering in National development and said that NAB’s doors are open for all including Business Community and Bureaucracy. “We do not believe in victimisation”, he added.
Javed Iqbal said that National and International Organisations have lauded the performance of NAB in eliminating corruption, adding that as per Gallup survey, 59 percent of Pakistani public have complete trust on NAB.
The Chairman also appreciated the performance of KEMU and said that KEMU has great reputation not only in Pakistan but across the Globe for providing healthcare professional’s high quality knowledge, exceptional skill sets and empathy.
Later, KEMU Vice Chancelor Professor Khalid Masood Gondal presented a book and a shield to the NAB Chairman.
DG NAB Lahore Shehzad Saleem also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the major achievements made by the Regional Bureau and expressed that only NAB Lahore has recovered Rs 31 Billion as an indirect recovery and Rs 8 Billion as direct recovery in corruption cases during last 22 months which has been a great achievement.