Out-of-court settlements: NAB plea bargain deals come under senators’ scanner

Ordinance is used for political re-engineering according to Babar

ISLAMABAD: Voluntary return and plea bargain deals came under the scanner on Monday in a Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice meeting. Senator Farhatullah Babar raised a point regarding reviewing Section 25 of the NAB Ordinance, which deals with the two settlement options.

A press release stated that Senator Babar opined that the ordinance was used for political re-engineering and there should be no sacred cows if the law is to be reviewed.

NAB representatives briefed the committee about the issue. They defended plea bargains as a concept common in accountability and criminal prosecution systems around the world. They also informed the panel that Rs.37.120 billion have been recovered through VR and PB from 4,565 accused persons since the bureau’s inception.

Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid said a joint committee of parliament has been constituted to review the entire NAB Ordinance, including Section 25. The Committee then deferred the discussion.

Committee Chairman Senator Javed Abbasi said that the time is ripe for reviewing the law and that the joint committee should comprehensively review the ordinance.

The Committee also considered “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced by senators Sassui Palijo and Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah.

Senator Palijo said regional languages need to be given proper recognition as it promotes national integration and builds a strong federation. She said that a number of movements are going on in the country demanding national status to these languages, making it imperative to give due recognition to such languages.

It was informed that Senator Karim Ahmed Khawaja has also moved a similar bill. The committee decided to consider both bills together in the next meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2017.