Bar on beneficiaries of plea bargain and VR laws

President Mamnoon Hussain signed an ordinance to disbar for life public office holders and government servants who would benefit from the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea bargain and voluntary return laws. The ordinance is in force from Sunday and will be presented to the Senate and parliament for their review on Monday. “The Supreme Court had asked the government for its stance on the plea bargain law,” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said while speaking during the government’s press conference to announce the ordinance. Law Minister Zahid Hamid said: “We were being criticised for not disqualifying public office holders and government servants from office if they opted for plea bargain. An individual who wants to return the amounts embezzled will require court approval and will be deemed to be convicted; if he is a holder of public office, he will be dismissed and disqualified from holding that public office for life.”
The law should have been applicable from retrospective effect to the extent that all beneficiaries of plea bargain and VR laws in the past should be barred from holding any public office or to participate in elections. In fact, earlier NAB laws encouraged the corrupt to indulge in corrupt practices, make money and pay back a part of it in plea bargain. According to website of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), it is Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption organization charged with the responsibility of elimination of corruption through a holistic approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement. But it has drawn flak from all strata of society and institutions for having failed to achieve the avowed objectives. Analysts, commentriat, Supreme Court and even the government at times expressed dissatisfaction over the NAB’s performance sating that its function of plea bargain was not transparent.
Though the corruption is widespread and has eaten into the vitals of society, the NAB doesn’t seem very active to deal with the corrupt. If one goes through the latest annual report of the NAB, corruption is not a serious problem Continued on page 7