The current NAB chairman has pleasantly surprised many by initiating visits and reaching out to individuals who have been mistreated by the Bureau, offering apologies for the past wrongdoings of the highly criticized top anti-corruption agency in the nation.
The NAB Chairman, Lt Gen (R) Nazir Butt, has taken a different approach by personally meeting NAB victims and offering apologies for the mistreatment they have faced in the past. This marks a significant departure from the Bureau’s previous practices of targeting politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen without substantial evidence. The current chairman’s efforts to reform NAB’s policies are aimed at preventing further injustices and ensuring accountability without unnecessary harassment.
Several years ago, a victim of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was discovered deceased at his residence in Islamabad. Adjacent to the lifeless body, a handwritten note was found. The contents of the note pleaded with the honorable chief justice to take notice of the conduct of NAB officials, in order to prevent other government officials from being wrongfully convicted.
The note further expressed that since April 2017, NAB had made the victim’s life unbearable. It conveyed the hope that the honorable chief justice would bring about positive changes in a system where incompetent individuals manipulate the lives and reputations of citizens under the guise of accountability.
In 2018, social media users were incensed by the mistreatment suffered by a professor and former CEO of the Lahore sub-campus of Sargodha University. Even after his demise due to cardiac arrest while in the custody of NAB, he was photographed still handcuffed and shackled.
Similarly, in 2004, a former senior bureaucrat from KP took his own life after enduring severe depression caused by his arrest and imprisonment by NAB on corruption charges. The callousness of NAB persisted until the departure of Javed Iqbal. The judiciary has consistently raised concerns about NAB’s impartiality, highlighting that the Bureau has frequently been exploited as a tool for political manipulation, yet no action has been taken to prevent the harassment and persecution of innocent individuals.
