As part of the coalition government's ongoing electoral reform process, further amendments have been made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Bill 2022, which will see that the organization only deals with 'mega-scandals' of corruption.
The amendments have been made by the standing committee of law and justice and will be moved in the National Assembly by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar today (Wednesday), as per senior journalist Benazir Shah.
The latest amendments dictate that an offence will only fall under the jurisdiction of the NAB if the corruption committed is valued at at least five hundred million rupees minimum. The committee of law and justice believes that this will restrict the anti-corruption watchdog to only deal with cases of mega-scandal.
A previous amendment made to the NAB Bill in May had reduced the term of the prosecutor general from 4 years to 3 years. The newest amendments will allow the 3-year term of the prosecutor general to be extended.
Previous NAB rules stated that the NAB Chairperson could call in 'any person' or 'any document' for questioning, however the new amendments restrict it to only those documents and persons that are relevant to the case at hand.
The new amendments have specified the 'unusual transactions' that banks and financial institutions were required to report to the NAB, stating that it has to be at least two million rupees to be considered unusual.
Similarly, the amendments also take away the authority of the NAB chairperson to get surveillance on suspects with approval from the court and assistance from governmental agencies. Instead, any person being called in for inquiry must now be informed if they are being accused.
The amendments have been made by the standing committee of law and justice and will be moved in the National Assembly by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar today (Wednesday), as per senior journalist Benazir Shah.
The latest amendments dictate that an offence will only fall under the jurisdiction of the NAB if the corruption committed is valued at at least five hundred million rupees minimum. The committee of law and justice believes that this will restrict the anti-corruption watchdog to only deal with cases of mega-scandal.
A previous amendment made to the NAB Bill in May had reduced the term of the prosecutor general from 4 years to 3 years. The newest amendments will allow the 3-year term of the prosecutor general to be extended.
Previous NAB rules stated that the NAB Chairperson could call in 'any person' or 'any document' for questioning, however the new amendments restrict it to only those documents and persons that are relevant to the case at hand.
The new amendments have specified the 'unusual transactions' that banks and financial institutions were required to report to the NAB, stating that it has to be at least two million rupees to be considered unusual.
Similarly, the amendments also take away the authority of the NAB chairperson to get surveillance on suspects with approval from the court and assistance from governmental agencies. Instead, any person being called in for inquiry must now be informed if they are being accused.