Supreme Court Justice Azmat Saeed on Monday said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had become a facilitator of the corrupt. Justice Saeed, part of the two-member bench hearing the case, said “NAB is facilitating corruption in the country” by allowing wrongdoers to opt for NAB’s voluntary return scheme. Moreover, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had also asked the federal government to explain whether the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Corruption Wing share the same powers or not. The apex court had taken suo moto notice and barred NAB from accepting offers of voluntary return on ill-gotten money by a wrongdoer under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.It later issued notices to the Attorney General of Pakistan and the advocates general of the four provinces, among others, to explain why, as per NAB’s remarks, “the provincial and federal governments did not take action against those who benefitted from the voluntary return and plea bargain schemes under the NAB law”.
The Supreme Court bench wondered why a person accused of corruption worth Rs2.5 billion gets away with it by opting for NAB’s voluntary return scheme, while someone who commits corruption of a much lower amount is condemned to serving time in jail. While, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, who headed the bench, too reprimanded NAB for taking undue advantage of the voluntary return provision and said: “even if a court approves it, the decision should be challenged”. Justice Saeed went on to say that NAB basically advertises in newspapers, telling people involved in corruption that they can “get away with it” by opting for voluntary return. “NAB is facilitating corruption in the country.” The counsel for NAB, replying to the criticism, said that the accountability bureau itself did not devise the provision of voluntary return. The attorney general, speaking on behalf of the federal government, told the court that a committee headed by the federal law minister is investigating the provision of voluntary return under NAO. He further said that people who opt for voluntary returnessentially confess to the crime.
