ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday announced that it will promulgate an Ordinance to amend the National Accountability Bureau’s (NSB) Ordinance which will disqualify public officeholders for life and disbar government servants, who have benefited from the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea bargain and voluntary return laws, from re-employment in the roles they held.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while addressing a press conference along with Law Minister Zahid Hamid, State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Law Zafarullah Khan and others, said that the Ordinance would be enforced from the very next day, and presented to the Senate and parliament on Monday.
“The Supreme Court had asked the government for its stance on the plea bargain law,” Dar said.
Dar noted that there had been considerable criticism from civil society, the political opposition and judiciary on clauses in Pakistan’s accountability laws that allowed for corrupt individuals to return to their posts after making a plea bargain with NAB.
The government in response suggested a tightening in accountability laws and seeks to disqualify beneficiaries of NAB’s plea bargain and voluntary return schemes for life, ministers present at the press conference said.
To a question whether this change in law can be applied to past cases, Ishaq Dar said: “The law will be applicable with prospective effect and cannot be applied retrospectively.”.
