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National Accountability Bureau

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National Accountability Bureau
قومی احتساب بیورو

NAB Office, Lahore
Agency overview
Formed1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Preceding agency
  • Ehtesab Cell[1]
JurisdictionPakistan
HeadquartersG-5, Shahrah-i-Jamuriat, Islamabad.
Agency executive
Parent departmentAutonomous
Websitewww.nab.gov.pk

The National Accountability Bureau (Urdu: قومی احتساب بیورو; abbreviated NAB) is Pakistan's anti-corruption agency. Its chairman is Nazir Ahmed Butt, a retired general.

History

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The Ehtesab Act, 1997 established an Ehtesab Cell, charged with the investigation and prosecution of corruption.[1]

Under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, the NAB was established as the cell's successor, and given the additional responsibility of preventing and raising awareness of corruption.[2] The NAB is also responsible for money-laundering investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.[3]

Organization

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The principal officers of the NAB are its Chairman and Prosecutor General. Its headquarters are in Islamabad. There are regional bureaus under Directors General in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Sukkur and Multan.[4] There are four sub-offices (for Gwadar, Hyderabad, Gilgit and Baltistan, and Chamman[5]) under Additional Directors.[4]

The current senior management of NAB is as follows:-[4]

Designation Name of officer
Chairman NAB Lt Gen (R) Nazir Ahmed Butt[6]
Prosecutor General of Accountability Syed Ihtesham Qadir Shah[7]
Deputy Chairman NAB Sohail Nasir[8]
Director General (Operations) Tariq Hamid Butt
Director General (Rawalpindi) Mirza Irfan Baig [9]
Director General (Lahore) Amjad Majeed Aulakh [10]
Director General (Karachi) DIG Javed Akbar Riaz [11]
Director General (KPK) DIG Waqar Ahmed Chauhan [12]
Director General (Balochistan) Nauman Aslam [13]
Director General (Sukkur) Fayaz Ahmed Qureshi [14]
Director General (Multan) Engr. Masood Alam [14]
Director General (Headquarters) Farmanullah
Director General (Training & Research) Irfan Naeem Mangi [15]
Director General (Awareness & Prevention) Izhar Ahmed Awan[16]
Director General (Human Resource Management) Izhar Ahmed Awan (Look After)

The Federal Public Service Commission is responsible for recruitment of Assistant Directors.[17] Newly recruited Assistant Directors attend a five to seven month 'Investigators Basic Induction Course' and are then posted to the central headquarters of the NAB or its regional bureaus.[18]

The NAB's Forensic Science Lab was inaugurated by Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, then Chairman, on 20 October 2015. It assists investigations by offering expert opinions on forensic matters.[19]

The NAB has also established a Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy.[20]

For each region or sub-office there is an Accountability Court, which tries offences under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.[2] The Accountability Courts are completely independent from NAB, which are headed by District & Sessions Judge or Additional District & Sessions Judge. The judges are posted for three years term on deputation from the provincial judiciary.[2]

Performance

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Since its establishment, NAB has recovered Rs. 891 billion out of which Rs. 543 billion has been indirectly recovered in the form of government's or public usurped land.[21][page needed]

The conviction rate of NAB is 75%, which is way higher than Federal Investigation Agency, provincial Anti-Corruption Establishments, Police and other investigative agencies in Pakistan.[21]

Criticism

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In the Broadsheet case, the NAB has been accused of making payments to the wrong person as settlements and has been held by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) of 'conspiring' to defraud and financially harm Broadsheet LLC.[22][23] According to an editorial in Dawn, the NAB's actions cost Pakistan's taxpayers $28 million in payments as damages as well as a loss of face.[24]

List of chairmen of NAB

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The Chairman, National Accountability Bureau is to be appointed by the Federal Government in case the post becomes vacant after consultation between the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly for a fixed three years term which is non-extendable. Below is the list of chairmen.[25]

Name of Chairperson Entered Office Left Office
Syed Muhammad Amjad[26][27] 16-11-1999 25-09-2000
Khalid Maqbool[28][29] 26-09-2000 26-10-2001
Munir Hafiez[30][31] 01-11-2001 31-10-2005
Shahid Aziz[32][33] 11-11-2005 03-07-2007
Nawaid Ahsan [34] 06-07-2007 13-06-2010
Javed Zia Qazi (Acting) [35] 14-06-2010 01-09-2010
Syed Deedar Hussain Shah[36][37] 08-10-2010 10-03-2011
Javed Zia Qazi (Acting) [38] 11-03-2011 09-10-2011
Fasih Bokhari[39] 10-10-2011 25-08-2013
Saeed Ahmed Sargana (Acting) [40] 26-08-2013 07-10-2013
Qamar Zaman Chaudhry[41] 08-10-2013 07-10-2017
Javed Iqbal[42][43] 11-10-2017 03-03-2022
Zahir Shah (acting) [44] 04-06-2022 20-07-2022
Aftab Sultan 21-07-2022 21-02-2023
Zahir Shah (Acting) [45] 25-02-2023 03-03-2023
Nazir Ahmed Butt[6] 4 March 2023 Present

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b NA website [dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b c "The National Accountability Ordinance, 1999" (PDF). pakistancode.gov.pk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 Act No. VII of 2010" (PDF). fmu.gov.pk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "National Accountability Bureau".
  5. ^ "NAB Balochistan established Sub-office in Chaman to increase easy access against corrupt practices". 3 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Lt Gen (Retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt appointed new NAB chief". 4 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Appointment of Syed Ehtisham Qadir Shah as Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau". molaw.gov.pk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Appointment of Sohail Nasir as Deputy Chairman, National Accountability Bureau". molaw.gov.pk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  9. ^ "PID".
  10. ^ "Amjad Majeed Aulak appointed NAB's Lahore DG". 13 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Posting, transfer of NAB DGS".
  12. ^ "Waqar Ahmed Chohan appointed NAB DG". 12 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Major reshuffle in NAB".
  14. ^ a b "Notification of NAB officials' transfers and postings issued".
  15. ^ "Major reshuffle in NAB". 5 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Major reshuffle in NAB".
  17. ^ Official Gazette nab.gov.pk
  18. ^ "Training Plan 2020" (PDF). nab.gov.pk.
  19. ^ "NAB has established forensic laboratory having facilities of question documents and finger prints' analysis". 5 September 2020.
  20. ^ "NAB sets up Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy".
  21. ^ a b "NAP Annual Report 2022" (PDF). nab.gov.pk.
  22. ^ Syed, Wajid Ali (18 January 2021). "NAB 'conspired' to defraud Broadsheet". The News Pakistan.
  23. ^ Malik, Hasnaat (10 June 2020). "NAB seeks $17m for payment of penalty". Express Tribune.
  24. ^ "Broadsheet Judgement". The Dawn. 20 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Average tenure of 9 NAB chairmen has been 2.55 years".
  26. ^ "Who is the Current Chairman of NAB?". 17 May 2022.
  27. ^ "NAB's first chief appears before JIT". 30 June 2017.
  28. ^ "Gen Maqbool to be new Punjab governor". 27 October 2001.
  29. ^ "Tariq ready to appear before Broadsheet body".
  30. ^ "Refworld | Pakistan: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), including its mandate, legal framework and powers; whether there have been any reports of allegations of corruption or bias against the NAB".
  31. ^ "National strategy against corruption need of hour, NAB chairman briefs Balochistan cabinet". 18 February 2004.
  32. ^ "Lt-Gen Shahid appointed NAB chairman". 10 November 2005.
  33. ^ "NAB Chairman Resigns". 9 May 2007.
  34. ^ "NAB Chairman Naveed Ahsan resigns". Dawn. 24 February 2010.
  35. ^ "Appointment of NAB acting chief challenged". 19 June 2010.
  36. ^ "Deedar named new NAB chairman". 8 October 2010.
  37. ^ "Supreme Court asks NAB chief Deedar Shah to pack up". 10 March 2011.
  38. ^ "SC directs govt to appoint NAB chairman". 21 June 2011.
  39. ^ "SC declares NAB chairman Fasih Bukhari's appointment null, void". 28 May 2013.
  40. ^ "After NAB chief removal: Deputy chairman in trouble too". 30 May 2013.
  41. ^ "Chairman NAB: Qamar Zaman Chaudhry notified over appointment". 10 October 2013.
  42. ^ "Hot seat: Justice Javed Iqbal new NAB chief". 8 October 2017.
  43. ^ "Javed Iqbal's tenure as NAB chairman comes to an end". 3 June 2022.
  44. ^ "Zahir Shah appointed acting NAB chairman as Javed Iqbal's tenure comes to an end". 2 June 2022.
  45. ^ "Zahir Shah appointed as acting NAB chairman". 26 February 2023.
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