On Monday, the government has promulgated another National Accountability Bureau (Amendment) Ordinance taking back the authority of removing the NAB chief from the Supreme Judicial Council and giving it to the President.
However, the National Accountability (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 has been released after approval from President Arif Alvi.
According to the new ordinance, the NAB will deal with the cases filed under the anti-money laundering act. The accountability courts would keep on adjudicating the references lodged under this Act.
Moreover, the ordinance shall come into force at once and the amendments shall be deemed to have taken effect from October 6, 2021.
On the other hand, the old cases of fake accounts will be investigated by the NAB under the new ordinance. While, the money laundering and fraud cases initiated before Oct 6 will be dealt with under the previous ordinance.
The ordinance mentioned that till the installation of electronic devices, the procedure of recording evidence shall be continued by using the old system.
Furthermore, the president, as per the amendment ordinance, will appoint chairman NAB after consultation with the prime minister and opposition leader and in case of disagreement, the matter will be sent to a 12-member parliamentary body having equal representation from treasury and opposition for a consensus.
