Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) laws should be amended within the next three months, the Supreme Court told the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Wednesday, adding that it would step in and adjudicate as per law and merit should the order not be heeded.
The top court further ordered the anti-graft watchdog to stop exercising its right to offer plea bargains until and unless the Parliament legislated on the matter.
The directives came during a hearing of a suo motu case pertaining to the NAB Ordinance’s Clause 25-A, which empowers the watchdog’s chief to accept voluntary return of assets from an accused. Such a move helps the accused avoid any probe into the alleged wrongdoing.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, in his remarks during Wednesday’s hearing, noted that “amending the NAB laws is the prerogative of the parliament and that the “the government should not prolong the legislation on this matter”.
The CJP further mentioned that the court had already asked the NAB to stop offering plea bargains until the parliament legislated on the issue. “Until the parliament legislates on the matter, the powers granted under Clause 25-A cannot be exercised,” he said.
Justice Ahmed also warned that if the court stepped in and repealed the laws of the accountability body, it could render the NAB powerless. He said: “Does the government want that the NAB laws be repealed?
“The government has clipped the wings of NAB with the new amendments,” he added, referring to the NAB Ordinance, 2019, under which a host of restrictions were placed on the bureau.
