Chairman’s appointment: NAB struggling to survive

In the absence of accountability laws, NAB cannot pursue corruption cases.

ISLAMABAD:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has practically ceased to exist after the Supreme Court on Monday decided not to extend the deadline for appointing a chairman for the bureau.

“In the absence of accountability laws, we cannot plead cases,” said a senior prosecutor.  Over 724 cases of prosecution, 312 investigations and 616 inquiries are in progress, according to a spokesperson for NAB. The Supreme Court had directed the government to appoint a NAB chief within a month in its June 21 ruling in a case titled Al-Jihad Trust. The government shall be responsible ‘if in such an eventuality, the National Accountability Bureau practically ceases to exist under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999,’ stated the detailed judgment.

Government officials are deliberating on whether to reactivate NAB or to introduce the new Accountability Act in parliament. In the wake of NAB’s poor performance, the government had drafted new accountability laws last year and forwarded the draft to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice. But objections raised by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz halted progress on the act.

“The apex court may pass an order directing the government to introduce accountability laws to carry forward the accountability process,” said PML-Q Senator SM Zafar. It is the collective responsibility of political parties to reach a consensus on introducing new accountability laws, he added.

“If the government fails to introduce new accountability laws or to reactivate NAB, cases pending in the courts will not be pursued,” said Habibul Wahabul Khairi, a lawyer who had challenged the appointment of the former NAB chief. The government should call a session of parliament to take up the issue, said counsel for NAB in this case, Wasim Sajjad, since NAB is ineffective and dysfunctional in light of the apex court order.

Meanwhile, sources in the law ministry said the government will file an appeal within three days, seeking early hearing of a review petition for the reinstatement of former chairman NAB Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, who was barred from office by the apex court earlier this year. The ministry has also prepared a summary of three names which are likely to be sent to the chief justice within the next few days.

NAB’s overall performance

Since its establishment, NAB officials have approved inquiries against 118 politicians, including two former prime ministers, six chief ministers, 38 MNAs, 12 senators and 60 MPAs. The bureau and its predecessor investigated 2,203 cases from 1994 to 2008 of which 381 inquiries are under way and 1,147 inquiries have been completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th,  2011.