Sindh cabinet approves new draft of NAO repeal bill

Following thorough discussions, the Sindh cabinet has made some important decisions, which include passing the Sindh Accountability Agency bill, repealing removal from service ordinance, enhancement of disabled persons’ quota in government jobs and approval of captive power plant subsidy bills.

The cabinet meeting was held on Saturday evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the New Sindh Secretariat, where they discussed Governor Mohammad Zubair’s observations on the bill passed by the provincial assembly earlier this month to repeal the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.

Raising some constitutional issues and observations, the governor had called upon the provincial legislature to reconsider the bill as he rejected it in the current form.

After discussing the observations of the governor, the cabinet unanimously approved the new draft of the bill and referred it to the Sindh Assembly again to adopt it. The cabinet also discussed the Sindh Accountability Agency Bill 2017, which would be implemented on all office holders who are performing their functions in connection with the affairs and employment of the government funds in the province.

Under the new law, the proposed accountability agency would be headed by a chairperson. Moreover, there would be an accountability commission – comprising the agency’s chairperson, the advocate general, the agency’s prosecutor general, its director general, and an investigation director – to review the progress of corruption cases.

The chairperson would be a serving judge of the Sindh High Court or qualified to be a high court judge, a civil servant of grade-21 or above with proven competence, good reputation and high integrity. He would be nominated by a parliamentary committee of the Sindh Assembly consisting of six members: three each from the treasury and opposition benches, and named by the leaders of the House and opposition. The committee would be headed by the assembly speaker.

The Sindh Enquiries & Anti-Corruption Act 1991 and Rules would be repealed after the passage of the bill. All cases pending with the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) under the repealed act, employees recruited by ACE and all assets and liabilities – including furniture, fixtures, machinery and vehicles – would be transferred to the accountability agency.

The cabinet meeting also discussed establishing the Sindh Forensic Science Laboratory in Karachi, with the objective of setting up a facility for forensic examination of materials, documents, etc for presenting in courts, tribunals or other legal authorities.

The lab would provide different facilities such as audio-visual analysis, computer forensics, crime scene & death scene investigation, DNA test & serology, forensic photography, narcotics, toxicology, trace chemistry and polygraph tests, firearm & tool marks, latent fingerprints detection and pathology.

The PC-I of the laboratory project was already approved with an approximate cost of Rs2.7 billion. The project is expected to be completed in 30 months. The cabinet also approved the Sindh Forensic Science Agency Act 2017 to be presented in the provincial assembly.

The meeting also discussed the enhancement of quota for the disabled in government jobs. Under the Sindh Civil Servants Act 1973, the disabled have two per cent quota in government jobs, which the cabinet increased to five per cent.

They approved the amendment to be presented before the legislature.

During a discussion on the Removal from Service (Special Powers), Sindh Ordinance 2000, the advocate general read out a statement that said: “The law that confers arbitrary powers on the competent authority in violation of the fundamental rights conferred by the constitution and the law, specific laws relating to this subject are already in the field. Therefore, this law is not required.” The cabinet approved repealing the ordinance. After discussing the Sindh New Captive Power Plants Subsidy Bill 2017, which was passed by the provincial assembly, the bill was again referred back to the legislature for reconsideration.

Discussing the objections raised by the governor, the cabinet meeting said subsidy was being provided for the specific purpose of reducing load-shedding on the local level, where power plants were installed. Therefore, said the meeting, the bill was not in contravention of any law and was based only for the benefit of the people.