Curbs on NAB powers may lead to increased FIA role.

Byline: Malik Asad

ISLAMABAD -- Legal experts are of the view that amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance may bring the business community and government employees out of the ambit of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and may increase the role of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

They say the 'real deterrence' against corrupt practices was NAB's power to take a suspect into custody for 90 days, but this has been diluted as under the proposed law physical remand of an accused will be for a maximum of 14 days only.

Earlier, an accused could only apply for bail after the expiration of his or her physical remand i.e. 90-day period, but now it has been reduced to 14 days, allowing an accused to seek bail.

Raja Amir Abbas Hassan, a former deputy prosecutor general of NAB, said the proposed legislation would make NAB a dormant entity.

FIA's powers to deal with money laundering and corruption cases intact

He said the FIA would ultimately grow strong, because the power to investigate tax evasion, money laundering and corruption were still intact.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government recently appointed Wajid Zia, the officer who headed the joint investigation team that probed issues linked to Panama Papers, as the director general of FIA.

Mr Hassan said that under the proposed law, the NAB's jurisdiction has also been curtailed as cases relating to taxation would be transferred to other courts from the accountability court.

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