ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted six weeks to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit rules, saying the SOPs are not a substitute for the rules. A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Tuesday heard suo moto regarding the NAB rules.
The CJP on July 23rd, had asked the NAB chairman to frame rules in terms of Section 34 of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, as the SOPs were not a substitute for the rules. During the proceedings, the chief justice inquired where the rules are.
NAB special prosecutor replied they had sent proposed rules to the president for approval. However, the president returned them with objection that the rules be sent through the Ministry of Law and Justice. The PG requested the court to grant six weeks for submission of the rules.
Accepting the request, the chief justice adjourned the case for six weeks. According to the proposed rules, the NAB chairman has the authority to appoint director generals and directors in the bureau.
He will also issue guidelines for the arrest of a person accused of corrupt practices, and it would be mandatory for all officials to follow them. It added that the NAB chairman would give a final nod for any reference against the accused, and only he would have the authority to decide on it, and issue guidelines for the reference.
The reference would be filed a month later, after approval from the chairman. Under the proposed rules, the NAB chairman would have the authority to hire officials on BPS-19 and above grades, while director general human resource would make appointments on vacant posts between BPS-16 to BPS-18.
Director Human Resource would make appointments on BPS-1 to BPS-15 posts. The fresh proposed rules also laid down guidelines for arrests, reference, voluntary return of amounts, and plea bargains. Complaint and its verification, inquiry, and investigation process are also defined under the new proposed rules.
It further said that complaints received by the NAB headquarters would be sent to the concerned NAB office, and would be presented before the regional board within one month of being received. The regional board would be bound to verify the complaint within eight weeks, and would convert it into an inquiry after receiving credible information on it.
The new proposed rules explain that the arrests could be made during the inquiry process, if required, and the NAB officials would be bound to complete the inquiry process within a month and could get an extension of one month in the period, if needed.
The NAB chairman could further extend the period by three weeks. It added that the investigation officer would also be bound to maintain a diary of the investigation process.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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