The government introduced the NAB ordinance amendment through a presidential order. The following changes have been made in the law.
- NAB won’t handle any case against the government employees.
- It won’t seize a government employee’s property except by the court order.
- NAB will only handle corruption cases of RS 500 million or more.
- If the investigation is incomplete after 3 months, the court will grant bail.
- The tax-related cases will be no longer under the NAB jurisdiction i.e a relief for the business community.
Politically speaking, it’s the right decision because the way the accountability process is going on, it’s bringing no positive results.
Technically, it will create problems for NAB officials because it will jeopardize the whole NAB ordinance.
Instead of doing cosmetic changes, I expect PM Khan to do the following:
- Keep silent, and don’t talk much about accountability.
- NAB chairman and officials must stay away from the media.
- Do not create media hype around the arrests made by NAB. Keep it under a low profile.
- Arrest someone only if you have enough evidence to prove the wrongdoing.
- Immediately release the suspects against which you don’t have substantial evidence.
- Propagate only when you get someone convicted.
I hope if the Prime Minister pay proper attention, the accountability process will start working smoothly. There will be no need for any nab ordinance amendment.