The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Bill 2022 has undergone more changes as part of the coalition government’s ongoing electoral reform process, which would limit the organization’s authority to “mega-scandals” of corruption.
According to veteran journalist Benazir Shah, the revisions were prepared by the standing committee on law and justice and would be introduced in the National Assembly by law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar today (Wednesday).
According to the most recent revisions, a crime would only be brought under the NAB’s purview if the amount of corruption committed is at least 500 million rupees. The anti-corruption body would only be able to handle instances of mega-scandals, according to the law and justice committee.
The prosecutor general’s tenure had been altered from four years to three years in a prior revision to the NAB Bill, which was made in May. The prosecutor general’s three-year tenure may be extended thanks to the most recent revisions.
The NAB Chairperson could previously call in “any person” or “any document” for interrogation, but the latest modifications limit this papers and people who are pertinent to the current case.
According to the new changes, ‘strange transactions’ that banks and other financial institutions were required to disclose to the NAB must be at least two million rupees in value.
Similar to this, the modifications remove the NAB chairperson’s ability to obtain surveillance on suspects with the help of law enforcement and judicial approval. Anyone summoned in for an investigation must now be told if they are being accused.
