NAB and corruption

In a much-awaited decision, the Supreme Court upheld the writ of the parliament to legislate, and surprisingly overturned its own previous ruling that nullified amendments to the NAB laws. The unanimous 5-0 verdict accepted intra-court appeals filed by the federal government and other affected parties which have, by de jure effect, shut the door on prosecution of cases involving corruption up to the tune of Rs500 million. This is a setback to civil society's pursuit for cleansing the Augean stable of corrupt practices that incidentally have taken roots in our midst, denting all arenas of governance with financial torpedo. But there is a thin ray of light in an additional note written by Justice Athar Minallah who went on to state that the federal government's appeal is not maintainable, and the upholding of amendments do not signal an end to corruption cases, as these would still be referred to the relevant courts as per the existing laws.

There was a valid observation from Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail too, who noted that while NAB had been misused against elected people in the past, it was up to political leaders, not the judiciary, to address this issue. That was tantamount to throwing the ball back to the legislators, who teamed up during the PDM-1 dispensation to bail themselves out from cases of embezzlement, kickbacks and commissions. The fact that the bench did not deliberate over the necessity to curb the tendency of not properly prosecuting cases of corruption, as political administrations go on to pamper each other in such instances, is unfortunate. The contested legislation had reduced the terms of NAB chairman and prosecutor general to three years; limited NAB's authority to cases involving amounts over Rs500 million; and transferred pending investigations and trials to other authorities. This impugned law, however, survives on the shelf of legality and will long be debated for its concocted application. The amendments were, in fact, designed to benefit influential figures and to "legitimise corruption".