Bill moved in Senate for amendment to NAB Ordinance

ISLAMABAD: A bill was moved in the Senate on Monday to amend the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 which was not opposed by the government.

PPP Senator Farooq H Naek moved the bill further to amend the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, which was referred to the House standing committee concerned for deliberations and report.

He said the basic aim of the bill was also to do way with the draconian effect of the law. Through the proposed piece of legislation, the PPP has sought some key amendments in the law, which also envisages curtailing powers of NAB chairman. Explaining salient features of the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Senator Naek said that a case of corruption less than Rs500 million should be investigated by any other anti-corruption body as the NAB was supposed to deal with mega corruption cases.

Moreover, the NAB chairman, he noted, would not have powers to arrest anyone: the power of arrest would be with the court of law; there would be no prosecution without due process of the law, the plea bargain would be through court and a person availing plea bargain, would not contest election but would not be jailed.

He added the NAB personnel would not give media statements and there would be no media trial of the accused. Minister Swati did not oppose the bill but said that the government was also bringing a bill within eight-10 days. Naek rose to say that a very fruitful meeting was held on the subject six weeks back, however, afterwards no follow up meeting was held, compelling them to bring their own bill.

As indicated by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani a few days back, Senator Naseebullah Bazai introduced a bill to amend the Constitution, amending Articles 51 and 106. The motion for moving a bill in the House was read out by Senator Bazai on behalf of almost all the senators, belonging to Balochistan, seeking increase of the province’s share in the National Assembly from 16 to 30 seats and Balochistan Assembly seats from 65 to 80.

Some of the movers strongly spoke in favour of the proposed legislation and said that the proposed legislation would go a long way in ending deprivation and backwardness of the province. They sought support of the ruling PTI and all opposition parties, including PPP and PML-N.

In all, eight bills were introduced in the House including, The Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2019, The Constitution (Amendment of Articles 1, 51, 59, 106, 175A, 198, and 218) Bill, 2019, The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019, The Islamabad Pure Food Authority Bill, 2019, The Constitutional (Amendment of Articles 51 and 106) Bill, 2019, The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2019, The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019(Insertion of Article of 253A).

Earlier, former chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani questioned Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s statement that Pakistan was ready for dialogue with India and giving consular access to RAW agent Kulbhushan Jhadav in the given alarming situation in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK).

Sadiq Sanjrani summoned the foreign minister to explain in the House his statement during an interview to BBC a day earlier. On a point of public importance, Senator Rabbani said he was surprised over the minister’s interview and anticipated its clarification, which did not come. He pointed out that over 10,000 people in IHK were detained and scores of Kashmiri women being raped and access of Kashmiris to medicines and basic needs of life being denied while there was crippling curfew imposed cross the held valley for the last 29 days.

“In such a scenario, when India is carrying out massacre of Kashmiris: they are being denied their fundamental rights while here under US pressure and in compliance with the ICJ orders, the government is giving consular access to Indian spy and the foreign minister is saying Pakistan is ready for dialogue with India,” he noted. He emphasised that the minister should come to the House and explain his interview.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati said Modi was a killer of humanity, unleashing atrocities on people of Kashmir. He noted that the foreign minister was fighting such a war in which the entire nation was with him. He assured the chair that if the minister was not around, he would come to the Senate for making a statement on the matter.

Earlier, the PPP Senator Sherry Rehman raised the issue of shifting ex-president Asif Ali Zardari back to jail from PIMS despite doctors’ advice not to do so, in view of his ailments: the medical report indicated that three of his arteries were blocked and he also had spinal injury. She protested over the way former president was being treated. Sherry said PPP was never scared of accountability or prosecution, but there had to be a limit to political vendetta.

Leader of Opposition Raja Zafarul Haq while decrying the way political opponents were being handled under the pretext of accountability, urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of this matter. He wondered how would the rulers talk about IHK situation, when they were denying fundamental rights to legislators and other politicians back home.

Senator Rehman Malik proposed formation a committee for a code of conduct and requested the chair to talk to NA speaker on this issue. “How are you satisfying your ego by denying AC facility to Zardari. Very soon, time will come, when treasury members will also join the opposition and will stage walk-outs on being meted out injustice,” he said.

Senators Sassui Palijo, Maula Bux Chandio and Javed Abbasi regretted that while carrying out political victimisation, Maryam Nawaz and Aseefa Bhutto were not spared. They said that an environment was created of bickering and tension that did not exist even during the era of martial law.

Minister Swati said that the government was a guarantor of the protection of life and property of citizens and it did not believe in political vengeance. The minister reminded the opposition that all the cases instituted against Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were made during the tenures of the PPP and PML-N and PTI government had nothing to do with these.