Cabinet approves NAB Amendment Ordinance 2019
The Federal Cabinet has approved NAB Ordinance 2019 on Friday. The ordinance has been approved by circulation message, media reported. After the ordinance passes, NAB will no longer be allowed to take action against government employees.
NAB will not seize property of government officials without the orders of the court, as per the proposed ordinance.
Moreover, if the accountability watchdog cannot complete an investigation against a suspect within three months, the accused will be entitled to bail. In addition, NAB will now only be able to proceed in corruption cases of Rs500 million and more.
Moreover, according to the amendment ordinance, NAB's jurisdiction over matters relating to tax, stock exchange and IPOs has been curtailed. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Securities and
Exchange Commission of Pakistan and building control authorities will be the sole authorities tasked to act on all such matters. In addition, for land evaluation purposes, NAB will seek guidance from the Federal Board of Revenue or the District Collector.
Earlier, the prime minister's office sent the copy of proposed amendments in the NAB Ordinance to all ministers and sought their input in this regard. The prime minister wanted to introduce amendments in NAB Ordinance 1999 and he had sought suggestions from them. Meanwhile, The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore chapter has released its one-year performance report which stated recovery of Rs29.93 billion and filing of overall 55 corruption references in 2019, ARY News reported on Friday.
The report released by NAB Lahore highlighted its achievements in its mission for the eradication of corruption from the country. It said that the antigraft watchdog's provincial chapter arrested 138 persons involved in financial irregularities which caused loss to the national exchequer, whereas, Rs29.93 billion recovered in the current year.
The institution initiated 100 inquiries and the number of newly-launched investigation is 36 this year. It said NAB Lahore filed overall 55 references in the accountability courts after completing investigation which includes 25 corruption and 30 plea-bargain cases. Over Rs3 billion worth retrieved cash was given back the affected people, as well as houses and plots worth more than Rs27 billion were handed over to the citizens.
Following the responsiveness of the accountability process by NAB, the institution which received annually 4,000 complaints as an average in past has registered more than 13,000 complaints in 2019.
NAB Lahore Director-General (DG) said that the institution is strictly following its policy of accountability for all and the implementation of policies by the anti-corruption watchdog's chairman are giving positive results.