The special assistant to the prime minister on accountability Shahzad Akbar on Sunday said that newly approved National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Ordinance 2019 does not change the laws pertaining to bail and remand.
Speaking at a presser along with minister for communications Murad Saeed, he said that the government will not compromise its core pledge of holding corrupt elements accountable before the law.
Giving the details about the recent amendments in NAB laws, he said that matters pertaining to federal and provincial taxation, levies and imposts will not fall under the ambit of the top anti-graft body and the cases will be handled by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) instead.
"Similarly, the watchdog will not scrutinise any person or entity, or transaction in relation thereto, who or which are not directly or indirectly connected with a holder of public office," he added.
He said the process of accountability will continue and the government is taking steps to revamp and strengthen institutions and to make them more powerful. "The economy was in ICU when PTI assumed power but now it is out of danger and is moving towards growth," he said, adding the incumbent government is working hard to make the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) an effective institution as well.
He further said that the opposition was criticising the NAB Amendments Ordinance 2019 without reading it, adding no one in the government would be able to get personal benefits from the new NAB ordinance.
Murad Saeed said the government has stabilised country's economy and 2020 will be the year of progress and development. He said that the incumbent government has strengthened audit committees in the institutions to bring transparency and accountability in the system. He further said that the Ehsaas Kifalat Programme will be launched on January 20, 2020 to eradicate poverty from the country.
A day after the president and federal cabinet approved the NAB Amendment Ordinance 2019, the Law Ministry on Saturday issued a notification in this regard.
According to the amendment, the NAB can now only take up cases involving corruption or corrupt practices exceeding an amount of Rs500 million, and no action will be launched against government employees in case of departmental deficiencies.
"Notwithstanding anything contained in this ordinance or any other law for the time being in force, no inquiry, investigation, arrest or proceedings against a government servant, under this ordinance, either as an accused or witness, shall be initiated or conducted by the NAB without prior approval of the scrutiny committee," said a new clause inserted in Section 33-F of the ordinance.
Another amendment barred the accountability watchdog from confiscating property of any public office holder without prior approval of the scrutiny committee. According to an amendment, "Inquiries and investigations shall stand transferred to the respective authorities or departments which administer the relevant laws of taxation, levies and imposts in question.
"Trials shall stand transferred from the relevant accountability courts to the criminal courts which deal with offences under the respective laws pertaining to taxation, levies and imposts in question." Besides, another amendment required the NAB chairman to devise a "complaint redressal mechanism for attending complaints against NAB" and present a quarterly report on its performance to the federal government.
In a summary sent by the law ministry to the federal cabinet, the government claimed that the NAB was dealing a large number of inquiries and investigation including handling of mega corruption cases. "Under the existing regime a number of inquiries have been initiated against the holders of public office and government servants on account of procedural lapses where no actual corruption is involved. This has enhanced NAB's burden and has also affected working of the federal government."
It further pointed that the NAB had assumed parallel jurisdiction and was inquiring into matters pertaining to taxation, imposition of levies and interference in the domain of taxation regulatory bodies.
"It is, therefore, felt necessary to define through the subject amendments the operational domain of the NAB," it added.
The anti-graft agency's jurisdiction over matters relating to tax, stock exchange and IPOs has been curtailed. The FBR, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and building control authorities will be the sole authorities tasked to act on all such matters.
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