ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is all set to file a multi-billion reference against three retired generals and former top officials of Pakistan Railways (PR) for their alleged involvement in illegal allotment of 141 acres of railway land to a private Royal Palm Country Club (RPCC) in Lahore in 2001. The case is being investigated by NAB’s Rawalpindi region and it has sought approval of the NAB headquarters for filing reference before the Accountability Court Islamabad.

The NAB’s Rawalpindi region wrote to the bureau’s headquarters in May this year that the case was ripe for becoming a reference. The RPCC is being run by its management for over a decade. An insider told Dawn that the reference was mature and it could be sent any time to the NAB Executive Board for its filing in the court. The investigation of the case that started in 2010 has been completed.

After the National Logistic Cell (NLC) scandal in which three retired generals were penalised for being involved in corruption, the case of RPCC will be the second major corruption scam in which former army generals will be tried.

The RPCC reference carries the names of retired Lt Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi who served as former secretary and chairman PR, retired Lt Gen Saeeduz Zafar who had also served as former secretary and chairman Railway board, retired Maj Gen Hamid Hassan Butt who worked as General Manager PR and a retired Brig Akhtar Ali Baig who served as a director PR.

PR officials involved in the scam included former general manager Iqbal Samad Khan, former member finance Khurshed Ahmed Khan, former divisional superintendent Abdul Ghaffar, deputy director marketing Waseem Aslam, former director marketing Khalid Naqi and a person Pervaiz Qureshi.

It is worth mentioning here that the case of NLC was taken by military authorities at a stage when NAB and Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly had completed their investigations. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who was serving as PAC chairman in the previous PPP government, had told media before the case was taken up by the military authority in September 2012, that the PAC had completed its investigation into the RPCC scam. Military authorities decided the case in August last year under which retired Maj Gen Khalid Zahir was ‘dismissed from service’, retired Lt Gen Afzal Muzaffar was awarded ‘severe displeasure’ and retired Lt-Gen Khalid Munir Khan was not found involved in any financial irregularity or misconduct and, therefore, was absolved from all charges.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2016