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NAB Sindh DG seeks civil society’s help; Khuhro says pre-emptive action can help check graft; ex-SC judge calls for strengthening ombudsman’s office
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cannot win the fight against corruption alone, the director general of the bureau’s Sindh office said on Saturday.
“The civil society must come forward to join hands with NAB to reduce corruption, if not eradicate it entirely,” Wajid Ali Khan Durrani said at a seminar titled “Good governance and the menace of corruption”.
The event was organised by NAB Sindh in collaboration with the Hamdard School of Law in connection with the international anti-corruption day.
Durrani said initially NAB had endeavoured to combat corruption through enforcement only, but lately, it had adopted a three-pronged strategy of awareness, prevention and enforcement.
“The major factor behind most of the administrative reasons for corruption is that the internal controls of the institutions have become ineffective due to the vested interests of a few corrupt elements.”
He added corruption had weakened democratic institutions, undermined the rule of law, accelerated poverty, hindered economic activity, discouraged foreign investment and enabled terrorists to finance their operations.
Durrani said from 2009 to 2012, NAB had recovered over Rs1.10 billion through “plea bargaining”.
He said NAB had filed 60 references in courts of which 31 cases were decided during the said period.
Pre-emptive action
Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who chaired the seminar, observed that pre-emptive action or laws were required to eliminate corruption.
The speaker opined that frequent disruptions to the democratic process had dented the efforts to curb corruption.
“The public accounts committee in Sindh is relatively active and its report was recently presented in the provincial assembly, but it [the report] was five years old because the institutions have remained disturbed,” he added.
“The executive, on its part, had set up the Anti-Corruption Establishment, but with the passage of time, it’s now considered more corrupt than the other departments of the government.”
Khuhro noted there was no across-the-board accountability when NAB was set up as “services” were beyond its domain.
“Such state of affairs has led to a blame game among different sections of the society, though it’s the politicians who are mostly targeted for corruption despite the fact that most of the time others have ruled the country.”
The speaker opined that corruption could be minimised, if not eliminated, by improving governance, changing the mindset of living beyond one’s means and addressing the inefficiencies in law.
Ombudsman’s office
The chief guest at the seminar, former Supreme Court judge Nasir Aslam Zahid, suggested that the office of the ombudsman should be strengthened in order to end corruption. “The present ombudsmen did not have the teeth to bite or the coercive powers to take action to end malpractices,” he noted.
Zahid also proposed the creation of a new post in the judiciary named the “judicial ombudsman” for early disposal of cases, as in some instances, court proceedings were being postponed up to 50 times.
In criminal cases, he added, it was responsibility of police to present witnesses but the law enforcers demanded money to do this.
“The civil society must be proactive against the culture of bribery. However, it [the civil society] is presently weak,” the judge observed.
He called for disclosing the names of all those Pakistanis, who had accounts in Swiss banks. The jurist opined that it was not a good policy to announce amnesty schemes for tax evaders.
“Instead, facilities and concessions should be provided to the regular taxpayers.”
Zahid, who now deals with the issues of juveniles and female prisoners, said under the existing laws, no juvenile could be sent to jail but they were still being arrested, kept in lock-up and sent to prison.
He recalled that the government had reserved 200 acres in Malir during the 1950s to set up a school for juveniles with all the required facilities, but the land remained unutilised even today.
Speaking from personal experience, Zahid regretted that poor mothers could not meet juvenile prisoners as the jail staff demanded money for arranging these meetings.
Good governance
Mohammad Akmal Wasim, a law professor, said good governance was essential for curbing corruption as it ensured accountability and transparency. He lamented that the system of check and balance was weak in the country.
Old graft cases
Economist Dr Asad Sayeed suggested that a “truth and reconciliation commission” should be set up to deal with old corruption cases. Sayeed opined that a section of income tax law was flawed as it allowed turning “black money” into white. He also questioned NAB’s concept of plea bargain.
Referring to the anti-corruption law of 1947 and the subsequent establishment of several organisations to deal with bribery, the economist observed corruption could not be controlled because it had been institutionalised.
Sayeed was of the view that the recent introduction of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules was a good step towards ensuring the transparency and accountability of public money. Barrister Jahanzeb Awan stressed the need for civil service reforms to bring an end to corruption.
Psychologist Nida Khan talked about the psychological causes of corruption.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cannot win the fight against corruption alone, the director general of the bureau’s Sindh office said on Saturday.
“The civil society must come forward to join hands with NAB to reduce corruption, if not eradicate it entirely,” Wajid Ali Khan Durrani said at a seminar titled “Good governance and the menace of corruption”.
The event was organised by NAB Sindh in collaboration with the Hamdard School of Law in connection with the international anti-corruption day.
Durrani said initially NAB had endeavoured to combat corruption through enforcement only, but lately, it had adopted a three-pronged strategy of awareness, prevention and enforcement.
“The major factor behind most of the administrative reasons for corruption is that the internal controls of the institutions have become ineffective due to the vested interests of a few corrupt elements.”
He added corruption had weakened democratic institutions, undermined the rule of law, accelerated poverty, hindered economic activity, discouraged foreign investment and enabled terrorists to finance their operations.
Durrani said from 2009 to 2012, NAB had recovered over Rs1.10 billion through “plea bargaining”.
He said NAB had filed 60 references in courts of which 31 cases were decided during the said period.
Pre-emptive action
Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who chaired the seminar, observed that pre-emptive action or laws were required to eliminate corruption.
The speaker opined that frequent disruptions to the democratic process had dented the efforts to curb corruption.
“The public accounts committee in Sindh is relatively active and its report was recently presented in the provincial assembly, but it [the report] was five years old because the institutions have remained disturbed,” he added.
“The executive, on its part, had set up the Anti-Corruption Establishment, but with the passage of time, it’s now considered more corrupt than the other departments of the government.”
Khuhro noted there was no across-the-board accountability when NAB was set up as “services” were beyond its domain.
“Such state of affairs has led to a blame game among different sections of the society, though it’s the politicians who are mostly targeted for corruption despite the fact that most of the time others have ruled the country.”
The speaker opined that corruption could be minimised, if not eliminated, by improving governance, changing the mindset of living beyond one’s means and addressing the inefficiencies in law.
Ombudsman’s office
The chief guest at the seminar, former Supreme Court judge Nasir Aslam Zahid, suggested that the office of the ombudsman should be strengthened in order to end corruption. “The present ombudsmen did not have the teeth to bite or the coercive powers to take action to end malpractices,” he noted.
Zahid also proposed the creation of a new post in the judiciary named the “judicial ombudsman” for early disposal of cases, as in some instances, court proceedings were being postponed up to 50 times.
In criminal cases, he added, it was responsibility of police to present witnesses but the law enforcers demanded money to do this.
“The civil society must be proactive against the culture of bribery. However, it [the civil society] is presently weak,” the judge observed.
He called for disclosing the names of all those Pakistanis, who had accounts in Swiss banks. The jurist opined that it was not a good policy to announce amnesty schemes for tax evaders.
“Instead, facilities and concessions should be provided to the regular taxpayers.”
Zahid, who now deals with the issues of juveniles and female prisoners, said under the existing laws, no juvenile could be sent to jail but they were still being arrested, kept in lock-up and sent to prison.
He recalled that the government had reserved 200 acres in Malir during the 1950s to set up a school for juveniles with all the required facilities, but the land remained unutilised even today.
Speaking from personal experience, Zahid regretted that poor mothers could not meet juvenile prisoners as the jail staff demanded money for arranging these meetings.
Good governance
Mohammad Akmal Wasim, a law professor, said good governance was essential for curbing corruption as it ensured accountability and transparency. He lamented that the system of check and balance was weak in the country.
Old graft cases
Economist Dr Asad Sayeed suggested that a “truth and reconciliation commission” should be set up to deal with old corruption cases. Sayeed opined that a section of income tax law was flawed as it allowed turning “black money” into white. He also questioned NAB’s concept of plea bargain.
Referring to the anti-corruption law of 1947 and the subsequent establishment of several organisations to deal with bribery, the economist observed corruption could not be controlled because it had been institutionalised.
Sayeed was of the view that the recent introduction of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules was a good step towards ensuring the transparency and accountability of public money. Barrister Jahanzeb Awan stressed the need for civil service reforms to bring an end to corruption.
Psychologist Nida Khan talked about the psychological causes of corruption.
Posted in: Karachi News
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