Suspects rush to seek relief after approval of NAB ordinance
Suspects say all cases against them should be dropped as NAB's jurisdiction has ended
- Suspects are of the view that as NAB's jurisdiction has ended, all cases should be disposed off.
- The accused in the LNG reference have also sought removal of the case on the basis of the NAB Amendment Ordinance.
- Last week, President Arif Alvi promulgated the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.
Suspects are now seeking relief and want cases against them dropped following the approval of the NAB Amendment Ordinance.
Several people approached accountability courts in Islamabad seeking termination of fraud and other NAB cases.
The suspects are of the view that as NAB's jurisdiction has ended, all cases against them should be disposed off.
In addition, the suspects in the LNG reference have also sought removal of the cases on the basis of the NAB Amendment Ordinance.
The accountability court issued a notice to NAB, seeking a detailed reply from the bureau.
Chaudhry Aslam — the CEO of a private airline — has also requested that his name be removed from the reference as a private person.
Last week, President Arif Alvi promulgated the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, under which the NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal will continue to serve the post, until a new chairman is appointed and will also be eligible to be renamed as chairman.
Under the new ordinance, the president has the authority to establish as many accountability courts in the country as he deems fit.
Judges to the accountability courts will be appointed for a three-year term, the ordinance states.
The NAB law will not extend to matters pertaining to federal, provincial and local taxation after such matters were removed from under its purview.
Furthermore, decisions pertaining to the Council of Common Interests, (CCI), National Economic Council (NEC), National Finance Commission (NFC) and Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), besides those of Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) will also no longer fall within NAB's jurisdiction.