ISLAMABAD  -  Executive Board of National Accountability Bureau authorised corruption inquiries against several politicians including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senior leader and former federal minister Khawaja Asif, PML-N leader Captain (R) Safdar and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isnaf leader Abdul Aleem Khan.

The accountability watchdog also decided to file a corruption reference against former federal minister Babar Khan Ghauri. Chairman NAB Justice (R) Javed Iqbal chaired the executive board meeting at the NAB headquarters. The meeting decided to file corruption reference against Babar Ghauri and others in case pertaining to the alleged misuse of power and 974 illegal appointments that caused a loss of Rs2.87 billion to the national exchequer. The NAB decided to file a second corruption reference against Sikandar Aziz and others for having illegally occupied Peshawar Cantonment Board’s land through fake documents.

In total, the NAB authorised 18 inquiries; the first against PML-N Member National Assembly Khawaja Asif in alleged involvement in money laundering and having accumulated assets beyond known sources of income, causing a loss of Rs36.67 billion to the national kitty. The 2nd inquiry was ordered against the PML-N leader Captain (R) Safdar. The accused is facing the charge of having allegedly instructed Public Works Department (PWD) to issue Rs9 billion worth of uplift funds for his constituency and poor quality of the work. The 3rd inquiry was ordered against PTI leader Abdul Aleem in alleged suspicious money transactions.

The 4rth inquiry was ordered against former chief secretary Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Amjad Ali Khan and officers of the C&W and Agriculture departments in case of misuse of the powers, misappropriation in government funds, illegal sale and purchase of agriculture land and cutting of precious trees.

The NAB ordered the 5th inquiry against officers of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab governments’ welfare works. These officers are allegedly involved in misuse of authority and embezzlement in purchase of the equipment for various projects, causing a loss of Rs10 million to the national exchequer.

The 6th inquiry was launched against officials of the National High Authority (NHA) over allegations of illegally awarding contract of Multan-Sukkhar Motorway, causing a loss of Rs259 million to the national kitty. The 7th inquiry was ordered against former federal minister for Railways and Agriculture Minister Sindh Zafar Ali Laghari and others in case of embezzlement and illegal occupation of government land, causing a loss of Rs574 million to the national kitty.

The 8th inquiry was authorised by NAB board against special assistant to the chief minister Sindh in case of assets beyond known sources and causing a loss of Rs1 billion to the national kitty. The 9th inquiry was approved against former MNA Abdul Hakeem Baloch in the case of assets beyond known sources. The 10th inquiry was launched against District Nazim Peshawar and others in allegations of illegal transfers of hefty amounts to union councils. The 11th inquiry was authorised against Balochistan MPA Aneeta Irfan Bashir and others. In this case, the accused allegedly misused their powers and committed corruption in funds of Christian Housing Scheme, Quetta.

The NAB ordered 12th inquiry against former MNA Ramesh Lal in case of assets beyond known sources of income while the 13th inquiry was launched against administration of Sahil (Pvt.) Ltd. and Revenue officials over allegations of illegal allotment of government lands to favourites.

The 14th inquiry was ordered against former MPA of Sindh Sardar Ghaibi Khan Chandio and others in case of alleged misuse of power and embezzlement in government funds. The 15th inquiry was launched against former MPA of Sindh and others in case of assets beyond known sources of income.

The 16th inquiry was approved against former member of Punjab Assembly Sohail Zafar Cheema, former Town Nazim Gujranwala Rizwan Zafar Cheema and others in case of alleged misuse of funds. The 17th inquiry was authorised against Nisar Ahmed Afzal, Sagheer Ahmed Afzal and others in allegations of suspicious transfer of 50 million Euros. The 18th inquiry was launched against Haroon Rashid, Waheed Ullah Nagra, Muhammad Javed and others in case of their alleged involvement in corruption.

The NAB also decided to conduct investigation against former vice chancellor of Punjab University Dr Mujahid Kamran and others in allegations of misuse of power and illegal appointments in the university.