Dispelling bureaucracy’s fears: Replica of lapsed amendments to NAB law being re-introduced

ISLAMABAD: A copy of a lapsed presidential ordinance on the powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is likely to be promulgated once again. The ordinance had taken out of the purview of NAB decisions by bureaucrats and public officeholders that entailed no monetary gain and no increase in their assets disproportionate to their known sources of income,

“First, the government will try to convince the opposition parties about the need for such amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 so that they are unanimously passed by parliament. If no agreement is reached between the two sides, the government will issue a presidential ordinance to the effect to dispel the fears of civil servants,” a senior official told The News.

The opposition had rejected the piecemeal amendments to the NAB law and demanded that the NAO should be completely overhauled so that it was not used for vindictive objectives against political rivals. The opposition had refused to sit with the government citing its past experience.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had said sometime ago that civil servants were not performing or working effectively due to the fear of NAB. Now, Prime Minister Imran Khan has echoed the same theme saying that the government is working to change the NAB law as it is finding it difficult to find quality CEOs in state institutions because such experts mostly remain unwilling to come onboard due to the fear of NAB. “With the change in the NAB law, the government will get quality people from the bureaucracy and the business community. That is why the NAB law regarding them is being amended.”

The ordinance promulgated in December 2019 lapsed after its usual 120-day constitutional life. It had provided that no action will be taken against bureaucrats and public officeholders unless it is shown that they had materially benefited by gaining some asset or monetary benefit which was inconsistent with their known sources of income and that there was evidence to corroborate such material advantage.

The ordinance provided that trials pertaining to federal or provincial taxation, levies or imports stand transferred from the accountability courts to the ordinary courts, which deal with offences under the respective laws relating to these matters.

The ordinance had been issued after several complaints were received arguing that the bureaucracy had become dysfunctional due to the fear of NAB. After its promulgation, the prime minister had publicly expressed the view that officials would now be free to take decisions for which they would not be asked questions by NAB.

It was stated that NAB is dealing with a large number of inquiries and investigations in addition to handling mega corruption cases. Under the existing regime, a number of inquiries have been initiated against public officeholders and government servants on account of procedural lapses where no actual corruption is involved. This has enhanced NAB's burden and has also affected the working of the federal government.

It was further officially stated that while assuming parallel jurisdiction, NAB is also inquiring into matters pertaining to taxation, imposition of levies etc., and is, therefore, interfering in the domain of the taxation regulatory bodies. An act done in good faith and in discharge of duties and performance of official functions will not constitute an offence unless there is corroborative evidence of accumulation of monetary benefit or assets which are disproportionate to the known sources of income or cannot be reasonably accounted for.

The ordinance had been widely welcomed by the bureaucracy, which felt that it would now not be arraigned for decisions taken in good faith and because of which they had not financially benefited and their assets have not swelled beyond their legitimate means of income.