NAB amendments will slide Pakistan 100 points down in corruption index: SC
Pakistan
NAB amendments will slide Pakistan 100 points down in corruption index: SC
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Atta Bandial on Tuesday remarked the recent amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance will slide Pakistan 100 points down in the world corruption index.
The Supreme Court (SC) bench comprising the CJP, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah heard Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s plea against the amendments. Khawaja Harris, the lawyer representing Mr Khan in the court, said if executive did not perform its duties, people were left with the option to move to the SC.
The CJP remarked incomplete National Assembly passed the amendments adding the SC could not find a law that dealt with the authority of an incomplete assembly to enact laws.
The CJP further said the deficiencies in system halted the government to ensure accountability adding the wrong use of NAB amendments ruined the businesses of people.
Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan remarked the amendments benefitted only those who enacted them adding only an iota of powerful people from the party were running the affairs of the whole party. Justice Ijaz further said the amenments were enacted in haste adding if they were passed with ill intentions, how could they lead to betterment.
Talking about the system, the justice remarked corruption was not the only problem but the underlying system was adding no attempts were made to improve the system. It was the duty of the parliament to enact laws to improve the system and ensure action on them, the justice added.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked Pakistan was on the 80 th spot in the corruption ranking before the amendments were enacted adding the country would slide down further in the new ranking set to be released after the amendment.
Harris said if enactments served someone’s interest, they are termed as “regulatory capture” to which the CJP asked whether recent amendments should be termed “parliamentary capture”. The lawyer replied the term [parliamentary capture] did not fit here.
