ISLAMABAD, Feb 21 (APP): Minister for Interior and Narcotics
Control Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday said he was ready for
formation of a judicial commission and legal scrutiny of all cases
investigated by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the last two
and a half years.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister said he was
reiterating his call for commission in response to the statement
directed towards the Prime Minister by Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari about the working of FIA.
Nisar said the Supreme Court or retired judges on whom
all the parties had consensus could be requested for a commission.
Opposition parties could suggest names of judges who were
acceptable for all, he added.
The minister said if the PPP had reservations about
the investigation of cases then he was ready for a briefing by the
FIA Director general to the leaders of political parties.
The mega scams were a serious matter and not pursuing them
was a national crime as billions of rupees had been looted, he
stressed.
He said the PPP was complaining about a small case of raid
on the office of Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC). The party
could approach the judiciary if it had objections.
A judicial commission was made for big issues and not for a
single case, he added.
Nisar said it was a democratic era and the judiciary was
independent. The PPP could go to court in Dr Asim case.
The PPP, he said, should avoid giving political statements
and stop a media trial about the FIA cases.
The minister said the FIA was made a joke during the tenure
of previous governments. Actions were taken in the provinces but
they had never said that Punjab or the provincial autonomy was
under attack.
The Supreme Court had continued to pursue the FIA due to its
lack of performance during the last government, he noted.
Nisar said in the last two and a half years, he tried to turn
the FIA into a premier investigative agency, free of political and
government interference, so that every case was dealt with fairly.
In 2013, the FIA made recoveries of Rs 1 billion while in
2014 and 2015 the recoveries surged to Rs 14.6 billion, he added.
The FIA was investigating mega corruption cases of Employees Old
Age Benefit Institution, Trade Development Authority, Hajj, new
Islamabad airport, Pakistan International Airlines and Evacuee
Trust Property Board, he added.
The government did not intervene or used political influence
in these mega cases, he said, adding that Pakistan was the only Islamic
country in which corruption was even done in Hajj affairs.
He said he was trying to get raised the salaries of Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA) officials.
Responding to a question, he said his offer for a judicial
commission was not conditional to the return of Asif Ali Zardari
from abroad.
Answering another question, the minister said neither the
government was angry nor afraid of the National Accountability Bureau
(NAB).
He said during the tenure of present government, for the first
time the NAB Chairman was appointed in consensus with the opposition.
Earlier the NAB chairmen were appointed by Pervez Musharraf
and Asif Ali Zardari on their own, he recalled.
“During the PPP government, I went to the Supreme Court to
get the NAB chairman appointed but nothing was done.”
He recalled that Pervez Musharraf had made tghe NAB and
the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was targetted for
13 years through it.
Talking about the context of Prime Minister’s statement
about the NAB, he said some businessmen had complained to the
the Prime Minister that the Bureau was harassing them.
One of the businessmen, he said, stated that he was facing
injustice at the hands of NAB.
“Neither the government was afraid nor it would clip the wings
of NAB,” he assured.