Sindh to form anti-graft agency

To expand the scope of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), the Sindh government has decided to introduce the proposed Sindh Anti-Corruption Agency Act and Rules.

The decision was taken on Wednesday during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the CM House. It was attended by ACE Chairman Ghulam Qadir Thebo, all the directors of the department and other relevant officers.

The salient points of the proposed act include recovery of illegal gains through court and imposition of fine not less than the illegal gains derived. Upon conviction, the accused would be disqualified from being elected as member of parliament or provincial assembly and be ineligible to hold any public office for a period of 10 years.

The key aspects of the proposed rules are constitution of an executive board of the agency headed by a chairman, appointment of public prosecutors and power of the anti-corruption court to attach property.

The chief executive directed the ACE chairman to forward the proposed act and rules to the law department for vetting, following which CM Shah would hold a meeting with his legal team to finalise it.

He claimed that the National Accountability Bureau was encroaching on the anti-corruption powers of the provincial government, clarifying that under the 18th amendment only the provincial administration was competent enough to exercise anti-corruption powers.

“I’m going to enhance its scope further so that the system of corruption could be eliminated from the provincial government,” he stressed upon the meeting.