The National Accountability Bureau (; abbreviated NAB) is Pakistan's anti-corruption agency. Its chairman is Nazir Ahmed Butt, a retired general.
History
The Ehtesab Act, 1997 established an Ehtesab Cell, charged with the investigation and prosecution of corruption.
Under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, the NAB was established as the cell's successor, and given the additional responsibility of preventing and raising awareness of corruption. The NAB is also responsible for money-laundering investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
Organization
The principal officers of the NAB are its Chairman and Prosecutor General. Its headquarters are in Islamabad. There are regional bureaus under Directors General in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Sukkur and Multan. There are two sub-offices (for Hyderabad, and Gilgit and Baltistan) under Additional Directors.
The current senior management of NAB is as follows:-
The Federal Public Service Commission is responsible for recruitment of Assistant Directors. Newly recruited Assistant Directors attend a five to seven month 'Investigators Basic Induction Course' and are then posted to the central headquarters of the NAB or its regional bureaus.
The NAB's Forensic Science Lab was inaugurated by Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, then Chairman, on 20 October 2015. It assists investigations by offering expert opinions on forensic matters.
The NAB has also established a Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy.
For each region or sub-office there is an Accountability Court, which tries offences under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999. The Accountability Courts are completely independent from NAB, which are headed by District & Sessions Judge or Additional District & Sessions Judge. The judges are posted for three years term on deputation from the provincial judiciary.
Performance
Since its established, NAB has recovered Rs. 891 billion out of which Rs. 543 billion has been indirectly recovered in the form of government's or publics' usurped land.
The conviction rate of NAB is 75%, which is way higher than Federal Investigation Agency, provincial Anti-Corruption Establishments, Police and other investigative agencies in Pakistan.
Criticism
In the Broadsheet case, the NAB has been accused of making payments to the wrong person as settlements and has been held by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) of 'conspiring' to defraud and financially harm Broadsheet LLC. According to an editorial in Dawn, the NAB's actions cost Pakistan's taxpayer $28 million in payments as damages as well as a loss of face.
List of Chairman NAB
The Chairman, National Accountability Bureau is to be appointed by the Federal Government in case the post becomes vacant after consultation between the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly for a fixed three years term which is non-extendable.