Passage of Sindh Ehtesab Commission bill postponed

KARACHI: Due to opposition by the kitchen cabinet and strong reservations of senior ministers of the ruling party, the passage of Sindh Ehtesab Commission bill has been postponed, The News has learnt.
Sources said senior ministers are in favour of the present setup of Sindh Anti-Corruption Establishment department and they believe that the proposed commission could create problems for the provincial government.
Earlier, the Pakistan People’s Party-led Sindh government had decided to introduce the Sindh Ehtesab Commission bill mainly to counter the actions of federal anti-corruption organisations like National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
According to the proposed legislation, the incumbent Anti-Corruption Establishment department has to merge into the commission and its main functions would be the same to deal with the complaints and cases of corruption in provincial government departments.
The bill is to be introduced on the pattern of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Ehtesab Commission, which has been established through an act of the KP provincial assembly in 2014.
A senior minister told The News that though the ruling party was angered by the NAB and FIA actions, and had planned for legislation that could close the doors on interference by the federal anti-corruption organisations in the Sindh government affairs.
Sources said ministers believe that constitutionally it was not possible to restrain federal anti-corruption bodies from taking action against provincial departments.
If the Sindh Assembly passes a law and imposes a ban on the federal anti-corruption bodies to interfere in the provincial government departments matters, this clause of the act could be nullified by the superior courts.
A decision on setting up the Commission was taken at a meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Sept 17 this year on the directions of party leadership.
A committee comprising law secretary, advocate general, home secretary and other officers concerned was formed to prepare a draft law for constituting the commission.
The proposed Ehtesab Commission would have an independent board with a chairman and five members and the tenure of the chairman and members would be four years. The chairman could be a senior serving or retired bureaucrat of grade-20 or above or any person who should be eligible for appointment as a judge of the Sindh High Court.
A legislation committee comprising 10 MPAs - five from the opposition and five from the treasury - and search committee has to be formed for appointments of the chairman and members.
Sindh Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sikandar Mendhro told The News that the bill was still in the process of drafting. Whenever, it will be complete, opinions would be sought in the cabinet meeting. And if it gets through, then it can be considered for tabling in the assembly.
Sindh CM House Media Consultant Rasheed Channa said no minister opposed the bill and very soon it would be discussed in the cabinet meeting and then tabled in the Sindh Assembly for legislation.