A farce called NAB.

NAB IS once more in the dock, literally. The PML-Q leadership - the ruling PTI's ally - has challenged before the Lahore High Court a NAB decision to reopen a 20-year-old inquiry against Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The inquiry pertains to allegations of misuse of authority, assets beyond means and wilful default under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 against the petitioners. The three probes had been recommended for closure by investigators in 2017 and 2018 but were reopened last year. The Chaudhry duo claim that the NAB chairman doesn't have a single piece of evidence or material to form an opinion under the ordinance and authorise an investigation. They have also challenged the accountability body's jurisdiction to invoke the money-laundering law against them. But has the lack of credible evidence ever deterred NAB from (re)opening a probe, arresting a person or overstepping its authority in general?

The petitioners argue that the bureau's credibility and partiality had been the subject of public debate because of its use for political engineering, and maintain that the order against them was meant to 'contain and cage' them and limit their party's role in politics. They point out that even the superior judiciary had taken notice of NAB's conduct and the manner in which its officials exercised their powers in...