ISLAMABAD, Mar 07 (Alliance News): A few months after NAB was stripped of most of its powers through amendments to the National Accountability Bureau rules, the government is now considering a proposal to give more powers to the head of the accountability body.
According to the details of the government sources, a draft in this regard will soon be presented before the federal cabinet.
This proposed draft will empower the Chairman NAB to refer those cases which could not be prosecuted in the accountability courts to the relevant forums.
In the proposed draft, the NAB chief will also be given the power to close unreachable cases while the concerned departments will be empowered to initiate fresh investigations in such cases.
Under the proposal, the cases pending in one accountability court cannot be transferred to another accountability court.
In the absence of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman NAB will be able to exercise these powers.
In case of non-availability of the Deputy Chairman NAB, the Federal Government will be authorized to appoint any officer of NAB to exercise the powers of the Chairman.
Under the proposal, for the first time the Deputy Chairman of the Senate will be considered as a public office holder and will come under the jurisdiction of NAB, earlier only the Chairman of the Senate was considered as a public office holder.
The government’s move to increase powers has come two days after appointing retired Lt. Gen. Nazir Ahmed as the new chairman of NAB for 3 years. Aftab Sultan resigned last month citing ‘interference’ and ‘pressure’.