IHC urges NAB to acknowledge its 'toothless' status

The capital's high court has said the country's top graft buster—the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)—should first verify whether it can even initiate proceedings against a person or not, given the fact that parliament has now rendered it a "toothless" institution with limited powers.

During hearing of a case on Tuesday, IHC senior puisne judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani noted that through amendment in National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999—the law that governs NAB—parliament has quashed corruption references worth billions of rupees.

The judge, who was hearing a petition filed by a citizen against a NAB inquiry in a case related to the CDA, noted that NAB should first look into the question whether it can even initiate an inquiry or not.

He said after amendment in NAO, 1999, it is time for both NAB and people "to enjoy".

"Parliament has dismissed corruption cases worth billions of rupees. Over a hundred major corruption references have been closed, and the accused have even left the country. By the time parliament realizes this, it will be too late," he added.

The last PML-N led federal government made major changes in the NAO, 1999, reducing the term of the NAB chairman and prosecutor general to three years, limiting NAB's jurisdiction to cases involving over Rs500 million, and transferring all pending inquiries, investigations, and trials to the relevant authorities.

An apex court bench had voided the amendments on September 15, 2023 through a majority order.

However, on September 6 of this year, the Supreme Court restored changes to the country's anti-graft law, accepting the federal government's appeal against the court's Sept 15 verdict.

Former chief justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa pronounced the verdict reserved by a five-member bench on June 6 after hearing intra-court appeals (ICAs) filed by the federal government and other parties.