Governor Sindh raises objections over provincial accountability agency bill

KARACHI: Governor Sindh Mohammad Zubair raised objections over the provincial accountability agency (amendment) bill and sent it back to the Sindh Assembly on Thursday.

Zubair pointed out that the national accountability bureau’s law is already present, hence another cannot be drafted and approved.

In the documents, available with Geo News, the governor mentions that “Section 8(2) of the Bill regarding powers of the speaker Sindh Assembly to nominate the Chairman of the Agency seems prone to subjective and unilateral exercise of powers by the government/treasury benches.”

It further adds, “the chairman so nominated is likely to be devoid of the credibility that is essentially required for such an institution.”

Moreover, it states that “under Article 116 (2)(b) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that a legislative committee of the provincial assembly... may be constituted for an objective agreement on a credible method of appointment of the Chairman of the Agency.”

The document ends with “I would like to also observe that in accordance with Constitution, federal and provincial laws in the domain of accountability can coexist with mutual complementarity…the repeal of federal jurisdiction will not only trigger a spate of Constitutional and legal questions, but will also adversely affect the much required national frame-work and our international obligations in terms of transparency and accountability.”

Following the objections raised, the Sindh government decided to call a Sindh Assembly session after Eid-ul-Azha

On August 10, the provincial government had officially ended the jurisdiction of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance (NAO) 1999 in the province.

A notification issued by the law ministry directed authorities to print the NAO 1999 repeal bill 2017.

After being repealed, NAB will only be mandated to probe and hear cases related to the federal government's institutions as its authority in the province will be replaced with the Sindh Accountability Commission.

On July 3, the Sindh Assembly passed the 'anti-NAB bill', which seeks to revoke NAB’s power in the province. The bill was vehemently opposed by opposition members of the house.

Governor Sindh Mohammad Zubair had refused to sign the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 Repeal Bill 2017 twice, terming it unconstitutional and in contradiction with the federal law, and sent it back along with an objection note to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Zubair had also stated that the bill relates to subjects that fall in the concurrent list, meaning that both the province and the federation can legislate on them. However since a federal law on the matter already exists, which the said bill wants to repeal, the federal law shall prevail.