Key amendments to NAB law being made
ISLAMABAD: Instead of abolishing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which was instituted for political vendetta in 1999, some important amendments will be made to the NAB Ordinance 1999, The News learnt on Friday.
“As part of some important changes in the basic structure of the NAB, its rules regarding remand of an accused can be amended,” a reliable source said. “Under the existing NAB law, a 90-day remand of an accused can be granted whereas in the Pakistan Penal Code the maximum duration of remand of an accused is 15 days,” he pointed out.
Similarly, the source said, a proposal is also under consideration to separate the NAB courts from its offices because the presence of courts and offices in the same buildings was troublesome for visitors. The source said the investigation teams of the NAB were always present in the same premises and their presence badly affected the visitors, particularly the relatives of accused. Moreover, the source said, there was a serious lacuna in the NAB Ordinance 1999 as it had no provision about the grant of bail to an accused booked under this law.
“Under the NAB Ordinance, a trial judge has no jurisdiction to hear the bail application of an accused or pass an order in this regard,” a legal expert pointed out. “Because of this serious flaw in the law, an accused has to submit a petition to a high court under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan,” he said.
The source said the people belonging to the middle or lower classes were badly affected by this lacuna in the NAB Ordinance and families of such persons suffered huge financial burden. He said through an amendment, the accused would be given the right to seek bail from the trial courts. “There is no concept of bail in the existing NAB law,” he said, adding that almost 99 per cent bail applications were rejected.
When The News approached Deputy Prosecutor of the NAB Zulfiqar Bhutta, he confirmed that some important amendments to the NAB law were expected and admitted that depriving a trial court of granting bail to an accused was not in accordance with the concept of natural justice. He also admitted that three-month remand of an accused was also not suitable.
“It is a legal right of accused that he is given right to bail. In the laws framed during the British colonial era, even a court that hears a murder case has jurisdiction over hearing of a bail plea,” he pointed out. “In my opinion about the existing NAB law, particularly with regard to grant of bail, every accused should be given the right to seek bail from a court,” he added.
To a question, the NAB deputy prosecutor said non-provision of authority to a trial judge in any law to grant bail to an accused led to increased workload on high courts. He pointed out that the trial judge had all the record of a case and thus no time was wasted in summoning the record. About complete abolition of the NAB, the prosecutor said a lengthy procedure was required to abolish the NAB through parliament whereas there was a need for an institution that could effectively deal with the menace of corruption.
“The NAB has such a structure that is equipped with the powers of taking action against high-profile figures and there are procedures under which it can act without any pressure,” Bhutta said. “Under these circumstances, it is necessary that some important amendments are made to the NAB Ordinance to make it more effective in accordance with the public wishes,” he added.
Source: The News
Date:4/12/2008
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