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NAB Bill Returned To Parliament

The President of Pakistan has concerns about the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and is returning it to Parliament for reconsideration. Specifically, he notes that (1) the bill would shift the burden of proof to prosecutors, making corruption cases impossible to prove, (2) the bill excludes private citizens from NAB which violates the constitution's principle of equality, and (3) the bill was passed hastily without proper consultation or informing the President as required by the constitution. He recommends Parliament reconsider the bill with input from legal and civil society experts.

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Arif Alvi
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6K views3 pages

NAB Bill Returned To Parliament

The President of Pakistan has concerns about the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and is returning it to Parliament for reconsideration. Specifically, he notes that (1) the bill would shift the burden of proof to prosecutors, making corruption cases impossible to prove, (2) the bill excludes private citizens from NAB which violates the constitution's principle of equality, and (3) the bill was passed hastily without proper consultation or informing the President as required by the constitution. He recommends Parliament reconsider the bill with input from legal and civil society experts.

Uploaded by

Arif Alvi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PRESIDENT

Islamic Republic of Pakistan


Subject: ASSENT TO THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
(AMENDMENT) BILL, 2022

6. I have perused the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill,


2022 and have serious concerns as elaborated below:

(i) There will be no difference between Code of Criminal Procedure


(CrPC) 1898 and NAB Law after enactment of the National
Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022. If implemented in
current shape, the burden of proof will be shifted to the
Prosecution which is akin to CrPC, 1898. The spirit of NAB Law
is inherited from Islamic Jurisprudence. Caliph Hazrat
Umar (RA) was questioned by an ordinary citizen to explain the
extra cloth for his long cloak. The same principle is also
enshrined in the Swiss Foreign Illicit Assets Act, 2010 and
Unexplained Wealth Order, 2018 of UK. In white collar crimes,
it is impossible to trace the money trail for acquisition of illegal
assets. In Pakistan, records of properties/assets/wealth are neither
digitized nor can be traced specially in ‘benami properties’ by the
investigators. Therefore, it will be impossible for the Prosecution
to prove cases of corruption and misuse of official authority by
the state functionaries. If this is adopted in its current form, it will
bury the process of accountability in Pakistan.
(ii) The focus of the amendments should have been to strengthen the
accountability mechanism for elimination of corruption and
political engineering in order to ensure good governance in the
country whereas the proposed amendments have rendered NAB
into a toothless entity. If proposed amendments are enacted, the
ongoing mega corruption cases in the courts will be infructuous.

Contd….
from pre-page

(iii) The proposed amendments have excluded private persons from


the ambit of NAB Law which vitiates the spirit of Article 25 of
the Constitution which provides that “all citizens are equal
before law and are entitled to equal protection of law”.
(iv) Amendments have been passed in haste and without due
diligence. The Bill was passed by the National Assembly on
26th May, 2022 and the Senate on 27th May, 2022. Legislation
having far reaching impact on society should have been discussed
in details in consultation with legal fraternity and civil society.
(v) Article 46 of the Constitution provides that “the Prime Minister
shall keep the President informed………….on all legislative
proposals the Federal Government intends to bring before
Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)”. The aforementioned Article of
the Constitution has been violated; the President was not
informed about this legislative proposal before bringing this Bill
to Parliament.

7. I have also given my recommendations in the third column of


Comparative Statement which may be placed before the Parliament
(Annex-I). Therefore, in terms of Clause (1) (b) of Article 75 of the
Constitution, the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is
returned for reconsideration for detailed deliberation by the Parliament and
its Committee (s).

(DR. ARIF ALVI)


PRESIDENT
THE PRIME MINISTER

PS(Public)’s U.O.No. 5(117)/Senate/Dir(E)/2022, dated: 04 -06-2022

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