Accountability questions

In July last year, Supreme Court Justice Maqbool Baqar had laid bare NAB’s so-called process of accountability by describing its prolonged detention of suspects as against the spirit of justice as well as the constitution. The observations stemmed from the court’s detailed judgment on the post-arrest bail pleas of the PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother in the Paragon Housing Society case. In a similar vein, on Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court ruled in its detailed judgment on PML-N lawmaker Ahsan Iqbal’s bail plea that NAB had overstepped its authority by arresting the former federal minister in the Narowal Sports City case, especially when he was cooperating with the probe. Whenever superior courts take up bail pleas of persons in NAB custody, and it usually happens after they’ve already spent substantial time in jail, the cases are found to contain so many holes it’s astonishing they even made it that far. It is unfortunate, and damning for the top anti-graft body, that superior courts continue to deride NAB’s conduct. There has also been constant concern over the adverse impact it has had on economic governance.

Accountability in a democratic society is key, but it must also always be ensured that any accountability drive is seen as beyond reproach – and transparent. Unfortunately, that is not so here, and far too many questions have been raised regarding the way the anti-graft organization has conducted cases. People have lost their freedoms, livelihoods, and even their lives. And bureaucrats have all but halted their work for fear of being linked in an anti-corruption inquiry years, even decades, later -- as has been happening at present. Similarly, the business community has time and again pleaded the government to rein in NAB as its actions are hurting investor sentiment, but not much seems to have been done.

Both the PPP and PML-N had vowed to reform the NAB law in their ‘charter of democracy’ but failed to do so once in power in 2008 and 2013, respectively, and instead used it for political victimisation too. Interestingly, the very two people who appointed the present NAB chief in 2017, then-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and opposition leader Khursheed Shah, have been detained by the bureau in various cases for months on end. The opposition has openly been accusing NAB of indulging the current government’s witch-hunts against its rivals. Unfortunately, governments of the day fail to recognise the lasting effects of such actions and do not realise that the tables could stand turned one day. NAB can only be effective if it is seen as non-partisan and scrupulous. For that, a policy transformation at the top echelons of power is needed so as to create a civilised, fair and transparent accountability watchdog. The process of accountability should not only play no favourites, it must also be as public as possible.