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Thursday March 28, 2024

MPs panel takes up NAB law amendment, Kulbhushan-specific ordinance

By Tariq Butt
October 13, 2020

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel has taken into consideration some very important bills, including ones relating to the grant of permission to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to file an appeal against his death sentence and an amendment in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.

Besides, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice will also take up on October 20-22 the Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Ordinance for approval. The official position is that the ordinance relating to Kulbhushan Jadhav was introduced in pursuance of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision on the convicted spy. It provides for a reconsideration and review of the sentence imposed on him by a military court.

An appeal has been filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) under this ordinance, but India has consistently refused to engage a Pakistani lawyer for Jadhav. Consequently, there has been no progress on the appeal.

The NAB law amendment ordinance was promulgated at the end of December last year. Since it was not approved by parliament within the prescribed period, it has expired. The prime minister had decided to issue the ordinance after receiving several complaints that the bureaucracy had become dysfunctional due to the fear of NAB. He had publicly expressed the view after the promulgation of the ordinance that officials would now be free to take decisions for which they would no longer be asked questions by NAB.

The ordinance stated that NAB is currently dealing with a large number of inquiries and investigations in addition to handling mega corruption cases. Under the existing regime, a number of inquiries have been initiated against public office-holders and government servants on account of procedural lapses where no actual corruption is involved. This has increased NAB’s burden and has also affected the working of the federal government.

While assuming parallel jurisdiction, NAB is also inquiring into matters pertaining to taxation, imposition of levies and other issues and is, therefore, interfering in the domain of the taxation regulatory bodies. “An act done in good faith and in discharge of duties and the performance of an official function will not constitute an offence unless there is corroborative evidence of accumulation of any monetary benefit or asset which is disproportionate to the known sources of income or which cannot be reasonably accounted for,” the government stated.

These amendments had taken out of NAB’s purview decisions taken by bureaucrats and public office-holders that entailed no monetary gain. The ordinance provided that no action will be taken against them unless it is shown that they materially benefited by gaining any asset or monetary benefit which is inconsistent with their known sources of income and that there is evidence to corroborate such material benefit.

Another key feature of the changes was that trials pertaining to federal or provincial taxation, levies or imports stood transferred from the accountability courts to the criminal courts, which deal with offences under the respective laws relating to these matters.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Standing Committee on the States and Frontier Regions, meeting on Oct 19, will get a briefing on issues relating to the states of Junagarh and Manavadar. The briefing will focus specifically on the historical background of the Princely State of Junagarh, details of the announcement by Nawab Muhammad Mahabat Khanji regarding the accession to Pakistan and the illegal occupation of the state by India. It will also discuss Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; progress and efforts made by the Ministry of SAFRON for taking up the matter at the United Nations and other forums; and the impact of the new political map of Pakistan which includes Junagarh and Manavadar as part of the country.