The National Accountability Bureau has urged the government to review the law that bars it from taking up corruption cases involving less than Rs500 million, saying the limit has tied the bureau’s hands. The bureau says a Rs50 million graft threshold would let it pursue individuals involved in mega corruption cases.
NAB Chairman retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt made the demand during a recent media interaction with senior officials of the bureau, held to brief journalists on the watchdog’s recent performance.
“We have demanded of the government to reduce this threshold to Rs50m so that NAB can lay its hands on individuals involved in mega corruption cases,” the chairman said during the briefing.
Why NAB wants a Rs50 million graft threshold
Under the amended NAB law, the anti-graft watchdog cannot take up cases involving amounts below Rs500 million. A large number of cases the bureau had been pursuing were transferred to other departments, such as the Federal Investigation Agency, after the amendment took effect.
The chairman has raised the issue before. Earlier, during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, he urged the government to withdraw the restriction, saying that without the change, government officials would become “addicted” to committing corruption.
Recovery claims
The NAB chairman claimed to have recovered state land worth trillions of rupees from encroachers, including 235,622 kanals of Pakistan Railways land. According to the chairman, the recovered railway land alone is worth Rs6.78 trillion.
NAB’s Director General for Operations, Amjad Aulakh, shared the bureau’s recovery figures. He said the bureau had retrieved state land worth Rs9.18 trillion in the third quarter of the current year, bringing the bureau’s total recovery since 2023 to Rs11.524 trillion.
Due to NAB’s sustained initiatives, the year 2026 has so far witnessed an aggregate recovery of valuable state lands and other assets worth Rs14.6 trillion, he said. He added that the bureau had distributed Rs908 million to 4,280 affected people through deposits in their bank accounts.
The bureau had earlier reported recovering Rs9.17 trillion in the first nine months of 2026, and the new figures show the pace of land recovery accelerating in the final quarter.
Secretary Railways Syed Mazhar Ali Shah confirmed to Dawn that NAB had retrieved huge tracts of encroached railway land, and said a proper procedure was being devised to sell the recovered assets so the money could be spent on future projects and the upgradation of railways. The government has been pushing its anti-corruption drive across departments, with the prime minister issuing a final warning to the FBR over corruption.
The recovery comes at a time when the government is seeking foreign loans to execute the ML-1 project, under which an additional rail track will be laid from Karachi to Peshawar.
Next targets: power sector and minerals
The NAB chairman said the bureau’s next target was to unveil corruption in the power sector, the Evacuee Trust Property Board, state-owned enterprises, and mines and minerals. The chairman has already vowed a crackdown on power plants found to have deceived the state on tariffs.
He said the bureau was also concentrating on money laundering cases, and criticised Western countries for not investigating the source of money invested by the Pakistani diaspora in their countries. Pakistan has been strengthening its anti-money laundering frameworks as part of wider financial reforms.
He said the bureau was also concentrating on money laundering cases, and criticised Western countries for not investigating the source of money invested by the Pakistani diaspora in their countries.
“We have learnt that more than 147,000 Pakistani students were staying abroad, with heavy fees being paid by their parents and no authority in the West asking them about the source of money,” the chairman said.
The demand for a lower threshold, if accepted, would mark a significant expansion of NAB’s powers and could reopen hundreds of smaller cases that were transferred out of the bureau under the current law.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current NAB graft threshold?
Under the amended NAB law, the bureau cannot take up corruption cases involving an amount of less than Rs500 million. NAB is now asking the government to reduce this limit to Rs50 million.
How much has NAB recovered in 2026?
NAB says it has recovered state lands and other assets worth Rs14.6 trillion in 2026 so far, including 235,622 kanals of Pakistan Railways land valued at Rs6.78 trillion.
What are NAB’s next targets?
The NAB chairman said the bureau would now focus on corruption in the power sector, the Evacuee Trust Property Board, state-owned enterprises, and mines and minerals.
