National Accountability Bureau

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.{{cite web|title=The National Accountability Ordinance, 1999

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 four sub-offices (for Gwadar, Hyderabad, Gilgit and Baltistan, and Chamman) 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.{{cite web|website=nab.gov.pk

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 establishment, NAB has recovered Rs. 891 billion out of which Rs. 543 billion has been indirectly recovered in the form of government's or public usurped land.

The conviction rate of NAB is 75%, which is far 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 taxpayers $28 million in payments as damages as well as a loss of face.

Allegations and controversies

In December 2018, an educationist Mian Javed Ahmed died in Camp Jail, Lahore, while in custody facing charges brought by NAB. Dr. Mujahid Kamran, former vice-chancellor of Punjab University, who was also arrested by NAB over allegations of illegal appointments, described the bureau's detention facilities as "torture cells," raising further concerns about the treatment of detainees in NAB custody.

In July 2020, Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled that NAB had violated the rights to fair trial and due process in the prolonged detention of opposition politicians Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Salman Rafique, who were held for 15 months without sufficient grounds. The court granted them bail and criticized NAB for acting with disregard for the law and fundamental rights, describing the case as a clear example of unlawful detention. The decision prompted widespread criticism of NAB, with the Supreme Court Bar Association and Pakistan Bar Council condemning its actions as politically motivated. Human Rights Watch and other observers called for reforms, citing concerns over NAB's alleged use as a tool to harass political opponents and its broad, unchecked powers granted under a 1999 ordinance. The European Commission and Pakistani courts also raised concerns about the agency's perceived bias and arbitrary use of arrest powers, while several high-profile cases, including the detention of media figures and political leaders, were cited as examples of abuse.

According to the IMF's 2025 Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment, the NAB faces credibility issues. The assessment cited a 2024 government task force report that found NAB had at times exceeded its mandate and pursued politically motivated cases, which it said undermined public trust and created bureaucratic hesitation. The assessment report also noted that conviction rates remain low.

In August 2025, Khawaja Asif alleged that more than half of Pakistan's civil bureaucracy had acquired property in Portugal and was pursuing its citizenship. In response, the NAB stated that it had no evidence or intelligence to support the minister's claims and confirmed that no related investigations were underway. Concerned officials emphasized that while instances of corruption had occurred, such sweeping accusations were unsubstantiated.

List of chairmen of 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. Below is the list of chairmen.

References

References

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