SC seeks records of NAB cases closed after amendments

• Supreme Court directed NAB to submit the record of all cases closed
• CJP Bandial remarked that no individual has been acquitted due to NAB amendments
• He said NAB amendments have been challenged in the court

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit the record of all cases closed following amendments in the NAB law.

A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ayesha Malik, and Justice Athar Minallah heard the NAB appeal seeking cancellation of the bail of an accused in a corruption case.

During the course of proceedings, the Prosecutor General NAB said that Quetta’s corruption case had gone out of NAB jurisdiction, therefore, the application had become ineffective.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked that no individual had been acquitted due to NAB amendments but cases were being transferred.

He said that NAB amendments had been challenged in the SC and that the court had yet to decide on the matter. He asked what NAB was doing with the cases that were coming back from accountability courts due to amendments.

NAB’s Prosecutor replied that a review committee had been constituted for the cases returned from the accountability courts, which was sending the cases to the relevant forum.

The Chief Justice ordered the NAB Prosecutor General to submit the record of the last six months of the cases sent to other forums.

Last year, a report submitted by the anti-graft watchdog to the apex court revealed that the amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) benefitted over 90 percent of cases.

NAB had submitted the report to the apex court pertaining to the details of cases of public office-holders, including political leaders, which will be affected under the new amendments in the NAB law.

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