Javed Iqbal received Rs74m in pay over four years

Javed Iqbal received Rs74 million in pay and allowances during his nearly four and half year term as the chairman of Pakistan’s anti-corruption body.

A detailed break-down of the former chairman of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) pay was revealed to the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar earlier this month, in response to a question by Senator Irfan ul Haque Siddiqui.

Asked about the pay package and allowances enjoyed by Javed Iqbal from October 2017 to June 2022, when he served as chairman NAB, the law minister stated that Iqbal drew a salary of Rs1,239,000 per month. Apart from that he took home Rs6,000 as a telephone allowance and Rs68,000 as house rent on a monthly basis.

This added up to a total of Rs74,504,985 for over four years.

Javed Iqbal, who is also currently serving as the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, was recently accused by two women of harassment, misconduct and abuse of power. Last month, the federal government formed a committee to investigate the allegations levelled against Iqbal.

During a question and answer session in the Senate, Irfan ul Haque Siddiqui further asked the law minister about the pension and other benefits which Iqbal received after his retirement from the Supreme Court on July 24, 2011.

The law minister responded that the superior courts function as a separate constitutional entity and the disbursement of pension and salary falls under the respective registrar of the courts. However, he provided a notification which listed down some of the privileges, which were provided to a judge of the apex court on retirement, back in 2011.

As per the document, on retirement or resignation a judge will be entitled to 70%, in some cases 85%, of his/her salary as determined by the president from time to time.

On death, the widow of the judge was entitled to the services of a driver and an orderly, 300 free local telephone calls per month, 2,000 units of electricity, free supply of water, 25 cubic hectometers of gas per month, 300 liters of petrol and a security guard provided by the police.

No income tax was applicable on the allowances, stated the document, adding that the judge of the supreme court was also entitled to purchase an official vehicle in their use at deprecated value.