LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) staged a protest rally in the federal capital on December 19, 2009 to express solidarity with Chaudhary Qamar Zaman, who has been nominated as new Chairman NAB.
The PTI came out in support of Qamar after he and three other FIA officials were suspended by the then premier Yousuf Raza Gilani for barring the then defence minister Ahmed Mukhtar from leaving for China.
On December 18, 2009, Ahmed Mukhtar was not allowed to fly by the FIA officials posted at the Islamabad Airport under the pretext that since he was a beneficiary of the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), he was not permitted to fly abroad.
The minister for defence was proceeding to China to receive the first batch of frigates from the Chinese government.
Soon after he was blocked from flying to China, Ahmed Mukhtar had reportedly met the-then president and prime minister to inform them of his “humiliation” and the “disrespectful attitude” of the responsible Interior Ministry officers towards him. The sitting Federal Interior Secretary Chaudhry Qamar Zaman was resultantly issued a show-cause notice, whereby he was directed to submit his written reply in seven days.
The Interior Ministry sources had told the media later that the federal interior secretary was on leave and was at Kharian when the incident had happened.
The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) had reported the next day: “Chairman National Accountability Bureau Naveed Ahsan has telephoned Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar and has apologised for the embarrassment caused to him.”
The-then defence minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar had told a private TV channel later that the chairman NAB had also categorically denied putting his name on the ECL, saying the old ECL list of October 5, 2007 had carried the names of 53 persons (excluding Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar), which had been handed over to the relevant authorities, and that no new name had been added to the old ECL list. For those interested in a bit of spicy history, Qamar Zaman has also served as the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to former president and army chief General Zia-ul-Haq and in subsequent years of his career, he had gone on to hold various vital slots, including chief secretary Northern Areas, federal education secretary and commissioner Lahore.
Major (retd) Chaudhry Qamar Zaman, who had refused to assume the charge as Chief Secretary Punjab earlier in March this year, will now be heading Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption organization, which claims to have succeeded in recovering Rs248.83 billion between 2000 and 2012, besides transferring Rs4,682.29 million to the government account during this period under review.
The year 2001 was the best for NAB recoveries because an amount of Rs88.263 billion was recovered from bank loan default reported by the State Bank, bank loan default reported by the NAB itself, restructuring/rescheduling of bank loans and other corrupt elements, etc.
During the PPP government, just Rs2.166 billion was recovered during 2008, Rs3.303 billion during 2009, Rs8.156 billion during 2010, Rs1.683 billion during 2011 and Rs14.551 billion during 2012.
Former NAB chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari, ousted on the Supreme Court’s order, had stated in this institution’s 2012 annual report that the anti-graft watchdog department had also played a role in monitoring the pre-tendering and post-tendering irregularities in 201 national projects worth Rs1,485 billion, helping the country save Rs1.37 billion directly and Rs384 billion indirectly. During 2012, as the annual report of NAB suggests, the bureau had authorised 86 new investigations, taking the total to 379. Of these 379 investigations, 147 were finalised while 293 probes are still under process.
During 2012, there were 208 cases of voluntary return or plea-bargain at the NAB, and out of an agreed amount of Rs8,005.36 million, Rs1,871.884 million were recovered.
In 2012, NAB had recommended the placement of 192 individuals on the Exit Control List (ECL) and removed 68 names. Overall, the names of 1,037 individuals were on the ECL by end 2012. During 2012, the NAB had filed 95 cases before the accountability courts, taking the grand total of cases filed to- date to 719.
It is noteworthy that NAB has recruited 268 fresh investigators on 350 vacancies this year, selecting them out of more than 65,000 candidates who had taken the entrance test. The seven-month-long training of these officers is due to be completed on October 11, 2013.
