The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government seems to intentionally forget the tested principle of \u2018innocent until proven guilty\u2019 when it deals with its political opponents. It says it has decided to stop providing \u2018A class\u2019 facilities in jails to those facing charges of mega corruption. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Dr Farogh Naseem said this at a press conference in the presence of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Law Minister Sultan Mohammad Khan. One may link the announcement to the demands of former president Asif Zardari and PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Rana Sanaullah regarding the provision of certain facilities to them in jail and National Accountability Bureau custody. Moreover, several other political leaders and top businessmen are also in the custody of NAB on corruption charges. The announcement is also in pursuance of the prime minister\u2019s long time desire to deprive Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif of air-conditioners and abolition of \u2018A\u2019 class for prisoners.
\nAt a time when government functionaries have started talking of loopholes in the NAO of 1999, the announcement of mere abolishing \u2018A\u2019 class for prisoners will just be taken as exhibition of political vendetta. Already armed with unquestionable powers, NAB authorities can apprehend anyone even at the stage of inquiry, and keep them behind bars for months. We have seen several people arrested by NAB and kept on physical and judicial remands for months and reference trials for years only to be later acquitted. The years of troubles leave a telling impact on the people.
\nThe government had better introduce reforms in NAO for the curtailment of corruption from the country. Corruption is an established issue but efforts to check it become questionable when the watchdog itself follows corrupt practices at the behest of the government of the day. Recently, Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa also pointed towards the widely held belief and said, \u201cWe, as a relevant organ of the state, also feel the growing perception that the process of accountability being pursued in the country at present is lopsided and is a part of political engineering \u2026\u201d
\nThe government should demonstrate \u2018A\u2019 class maturity instead of simply depriving prisoners of \u2018A\u2019 class facilities in jail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government seems to intentionally forget the tested principle of \u2018innocent until proven guilty\u2019 when it deals with its political opponents. It says it has decided to stop providing \u2018A class\u2019 facilities in jails to those facing charges of mega corruption. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Dr Farogh Naseem said this at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-article"],"yoast_head":"\n