NA passes more tweaks to accountability law

Amendments aimed at further empowering NAB chief

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly on Friday during a hurriedly called sitting passed the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, during the sitting presided over by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, again tabled the legislation aimed at empowering the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson and the other items on the agenda were suspended.

The amendments would be applicable to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.

An interim official report in February revealed that in an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-conditioned review of Pakistan’s anti-corruption framework, the government had agreed to introduce more amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance and the Federal Investigation Act.

The report was submitted to the IMF as part of the global lender’s condition to conduct a comprehensive review of the institutional framework of Pakistan’s anti-graft environment by a taskforce.

The taskforce had recommended amendments to the NAO, 1999 and the FIA Act, 1974, according to the interim report.

As per the bill, all pending inquiries intended to be transferred under sub-section 3 shall be considered by the NAB chief.

The NAB chairperson will have the authority to close the inquiries started under any other law.

The anti-graft body chief shall be authorised to refer all such inquiries to the related agency, institution or authority.

If NAB is not satisfied with an inquiry, its chief will be authorised to send the case to the court concerned for the approval for the release of the suspect.

Cases decided before the National Accountability Amendment Acts 2022 and 2023 will remain in force.

These decisions will remain in effect until they are withdrawn.

Any court forum or agency shall be competent under its respective laws to record or re-record old or new witnesses for further proceedings in a case referred to it.

Under Section 5 of the NAB Act, further proceedings in all pending inquiries, investigations and trials could only be conducted under the rules of the institutions concerned.

In June last year, the NAB (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed by a joint sitting of parliament.

It stripped NAB of its powers to act on federal, provincial or local tax matters. Regulatory bodies were also removed from the anti-graft body’s domain.
The bill was returned unsigned by President Arif Alvi before it became the law.

The PTI approached the Supreme Court against the bill, with its chief Imran Khan arguing that the amendments would pave the way for public office-holders to remain unpunished for white-collar crimes.

Just a month later in July 2022, the federal cabinet passed the National Accountability (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, with new legislation aimed at restricting NAB’s role in graft cases involving more than Rs500 million and taking away the president’s power to appoint accountability court judges.