38% of NAB inquiries dropped over lack of evidence

ISLAMABAD (Ahsan Wahid): A significant 38 per cent of inquiries and cases initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into alleged financial malpractices and corruption since 2013 were ultimately dropped due to lack of evidence, Senate was told on Monday.

In response to a query from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy, Minister for Law, Azam Nazeer Tarar, disclosed in the Upper House that a staggering total of 1,606 cases out of 4,142, which were initiated by the anti-graft body since 2013, were closed.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bore a high burden, with 565 out of 1,178 cases – nearly 48 per cent of inquiries – being dropped due to insufficient court-worthy and incriminating evidence.

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In Sindh, including in Karachi and Sukkur, the NAB initiated a total of 1,428 corruption cases. Out of those, 296 cases were subsequently closed.

Similarly, in Punjab, the NAB regional bureaus in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Multan closed 413 out of 1,010 inquiries.

In Balochistan, the figures showed that 332 cases out of 526 were also dropped due to lack of evidence.