ISLAMABAD: The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has claimed to have traced 3,938 out of 6,156 missing persons.

According to an official press release issued on Friday, the commission headed by retired Justice Javed Iqbal, who is also the chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), disposed of 3,938 cases out of a total of 6,156 by June 30.

The commission conducted 702 hearings in June — 194 in Islamabad, 86 in Lahore, 210 in Karachi, 126 in Quetta and 86 hearings in Peshawar.

The press release said that relatives of missing persons had praised the head and members of the commission for taking personal interest in disposing of cases of their near and dear ones.

Meeting held to review monthly performance of NAB

Retired Justice Iqbal is serving as head of the commission in an honorary capacity and availing no salary and other facilities, according to the press release.

The NAB chairman also presided over a meeting held to review monthly performance of the anti-graft watchdog.

The meeting was told that the prosecution division of NAB was providing legal assistance to the bureau’s operation division and regional bureaus in carrying out complaint verification, inquires and investigations as per the law and laid down standard operating procedures and pleading cases in accountability courts, high courts and the Supreme Court.

The NAB chief said that due to constant monitoring and performance analysis of the prosecution division, the overall conviction ratio was approximately 70 per cent in accountability courts, which was one of the best such ratios.

The meeting was informed that NAB had rationalised its workload and timelines had been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases, putting a maximum limit of 10 months from complaint verification to inquiry and investigation and finally to filing of a reference in an accountability court.

The meeting was informed that NAB had established an e-library at its headquarters having more than 50,000 electronic books, including law journals and annual and monthly law reports.

It was told that NAB had devised and implemented an effective monitoring and evaluation system at its headquarters and regional bureaus to review their performance in qualitative and quantitative terms.

Retired Justice Iqbal said NAB was committed to working transparently, fairly and professionally. Due to the bureau’s efforts, Pakistan was considered to be a model for Saarc countries in eradication of corruption and the country’s rank in the Corruption Perception Index had improved from the 175th to 116th position, according to the Trans­pa­rency International’s report, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2019