ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Sunday released its three-year performance report, showing a total recovery of Rs487 billion. The highest recovery and best performance was shown by the bureau’s office for Rawalpindi region.

Of the total Rs487bn, the Rawal­pindi NAB recovered Rs290bn, showing the best performance among all seven regional offices of the anti-graft watchdog during the last period under review. It was followed by Karachi, which managed to recover the plundered wealth of Rs93.17bn. Lahore NAB recovered Rs72.2bn, Sukkur Rs26.16bn, Multan Rs4.10bn, Balochistan Rs1.81bn and Khyber Pakhtun­khwa NAB Rs733.3 ­million.

The total recovery of NAB, since its inception in 1999, is said to be Rs714bn.

According to the official data, the Rawalpindi NAB recovered an amount of Rs290bn, while it fetched Rs287.29m in 2018, Rs93.473bn in 2019 and Rs196.2bn in 2020.

Performance report identifies bureau’s Rawalpindi office as the best

It said the NAB Rawalpindi received 8,057 complaints in 2018, 8,727 in 2019 and 4,287 in 2020 and all complaints were disposed of after due scrutiny. Presently no complaint is under process. The Rawalpindi bureau authorised 215 complaint verifications in 2018, 237 in 2019 and 255 in 2020. The NAB Rawalpindi authorised 162 inquiries in 2018, 172 in 2019 and 179 in 2020. It authorised 71 investigations in 2018, 83 in 2019 and 64 in 2020. The NAB Rawalpindi filed 213 references in 2018, 233 in 2019 and 246 in 2020 in accountability courts.

Similarly, the Karachi office received 10,561 complaints in 2018, 11,381 in 2019 and 6,483 in 2020 and all were disposed of and no complaint is pending. It authorised 590 complaint verifications in 2018, 561 in 2019 and 382 in 2020. It authorised 387 inquiries in 2018, 422 in 2019 and 335 in 2020 and authorised 189 investigations in 2018, 197 in 2019 and 135 in 2020. The NAB Karachi filed 46 references in 2018, 28 in 2019 and 30 in 2020 and recovered Rs8.8bn in 2018, Rs3.32bn in 2019 and Rs80.97bn till Dec 31, 2020.

The Lahore NAB received 10,211 complaints in 2018, 14,008 in 2019 and 5,023 in 2020 which have also been disposed of and presently 757 complaints are said to be under process. It authorised 326 complaint verifications in 2018, 243 in 2019 and 148 in 2020 and authorised 213 inquiries in 2018, 103 in 2019 and 56 in 2020. The NAB Lahore authorised 37 investigations in 2018, 36 in 2019 and 26 in 2020 and filed 74 references in 2018, 55 in 2019 and 38 in 2020. It recovered Rs9.63bn in 2018, Rs33.55bn in 2019 and Rs29.02bn in 2020.

The KP NAB received 5,756 complaints in 2018, 4,397 in 2019 and 2,474 in 2020 and presently 307 complaints are under process. It authorised 483 complaint verifications in 2018, 245 in 2019 and 121 in 2020. It also approved 235 inquiries in 2018, 95 in 2019 and 52 in 2020. The KP bureau authorised 48 investigations in 2018, 18 in 2019 and 20 in 2020 and filed 29 references in 2018, 20 in 2019 and 9 in 2020. It recovered Rs356.780m in 2018, Rs244.754m in 2019 and Rs131.780m in 2020.

The Balochistan bureau has received 1,191 complaints in 2018, 836 in 2019 and 473 in 2020 and all have been disposed. It authorised 112 complaint verifications in 2018, 169 in 2019 and 70 in 2020 and 77 inquiries in 2018, 81 in 2019 and 53 in 2020. It conducted 26 investigations in 2018, 25 in 2019 and 17 in 2020 and filed 13 references in 2018, 17 references in 2019 and 24 references in 2020. The NAB Balochistan recovered Rs1.054bn in 2018, Rs71.658m in 2019 and Rs48.728m in 2020.

The NAB Sukkur received 20,575 complaints in 2018, 26,161 in 2019 and 29,208 in 2020 and all have been disposed. It authorised 520 complaint verifications in 2018, 628 in 2019 and 701 in 2020. It authorised 280 inquiries in 2018, 357 in 2019 and 401 in 2020. The NAB Sukkur authorised 75 investigations in 2018, 119 in 2019 and 142 in 2020 and filed 89 references in 2018, 108 in 2019 and 136 in 2020. It recovered Rs748.672m in 2018, Rs8.5bn in 2019 and Rs16.882bn in 2020.

The NAB Multan has received 4,695 complaints in 2018, 5,555 in 2019 and 3,063 in 2020 and presently 165 complaints are under process. It authorised 214 complaint verifications in 2018, 285 in 2019 and 236 in 2020. The NAB Multan conducted 75 inquiries in 2018, 127 in 2019 and 105 in 2020 and 30 investigations in 2018, 52 in 2019 and 44 in 2020 besides filing 80 references in 2018, 118 in 2019 and 117 references in 2020. It recovered Rs1.220bn in 2018, Rs2.384bn in 2019 and Rs499.82m in 2020.

Later in a statement NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal said that one of NAB’s major achievements since its inception was the recovery of around Rs714bn directly and indirectly which was a remarkable achievement as compared to other anti-corruption organisations with an overall conviction ratio of 68.8 per cent.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2021