Seeking Accountability

Punjab’s anti-corruption watchdog ready to take on the powerful, claims adviser

Lahore: The coalition government in the Centre might have defanged the country’s top accountability watchdog—the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)—by making controversial amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, the law that governs NAB.

However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which was ousted from power in the Centre in April 2022 but which still rules over Punjab and the KP provinces, wants to ensure an across the board accountability and has given a free hand to the provincial graft buster, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE)

“The PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement] had conspired against [former premier and PTI chief] Imran Khan to bring an end to the corruption investigations and references filed against them by NAB,” said Brigadier (retd) Musaddiq Abbasi, who served as Imran’s adviser on accountability.

“After coming into power, they [the leaders of the PDM parties] offered themselves an NRO by amending the NAO, 1999,” Abbasi said in a reference to General Musharraf’s National Reconciliation Ordinance which resulted in quashing of cases against political leaders and workers in October 2007.

Brigadier (retd) Musaddiq Abbasi, who currently serves as the Punjab chief minister’s adviser on accountability, said the recent amendments to the NAO, 1999 had made NAB completely redundant.

“The powerful have now been given a license to commit white collar crimes,” he added.

Abbasi said he has written a letter to NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan, asking him to refer to the Punjab ACE all Punjab related cases involving corruption of less than Rs500 million. “I have asked the NAB chairman to also refer all the cases to the ACE in which 50 or less people are accused of cheating the public at large.”

He said the ACE is ready to deal with these cases

To a question, he said the accountability courts are also returning all the mega corruption cases against incumbent rulers “but the Punjab ACE would look into these cases at an appropriate time”.

“The Punjab ACE has initiated another inquiry against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his family for causing a loss of Rs230 million to the national exchequer by building a nullah for their Ramzan Sugar Mills using the public money.”

He said the Punjab ACE is closely following the Supreme Court proceedings on a petition of PTI chief Imran Khan, challenging the controversial amendments to the NAO, 1999.

“I’m very confident that even if the Supreme Court does not strike down all the controversial amendments, it would surely send some of them back to the parliament with certain observations.”

He said the Punjab ACE is just waiting for a ruling on Imran Khan’s petition.

“We are going to launch a full-throttle campaign against those who have occupied state land in Punjab or are involved in corruption,” he added.

To another query, Abbasi said during the PTI’s rule, several corruption cases worth Rs45 billion were lodged by NAB and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against the Sharif family but they are getting relief in those cases one by one after the controversial amendments.

When asked how the ACE would work effectively as it is under direct control of the sitting provincial government, He said the Supreme Court has suspended certain sections of the ACE Rules 2014 due to which the ACE director general (DG) is all powerful now.

“Now he doesn’t require the government’s permission to act against lawmakers or senior government officials. Recently, on the orders of the DG, an ACE team arrested a sitting MNA of the PML-N for occupying state land. They didn’t seek anyone else’s permission to act against the lawmaker,” he said.