Parliamentary panel on accountability laws meets today

ISLAMABAD: The Par­lia­­mentary Committee on National Accountability Law will meet here on Monday to discuss controversial accountability laws in the country and suggest changes to them.

According to the National Assembly Secretariat, it will be the ninth meeting of the committee to be presided over by its chairman and federal Minister for Law Zahid Hamid.

The agenda says the committee will confirm minutes of the 7th and 8th meetings and discuss a National Acco­u­­n­­tability (Amend­ent) Bill-2017, moved by MNA Aliya Kamran.

The committee would also debate the proposed National Accountability Commission Law.

In the last meeting, the committee remained undecided about bringing judges and generals under the ambit of the proposed law, which aims to replace the existing National Account­ability Bureau (NAB) with the National Accountability Commission (NAC).

It has been learnt that the committee was under pressure on the issue of bringing powerful institutions under the new law.

The existing National Accountability Ordinance, promulgated by the then president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999, brought public office holders, civil servants, politicians and civilians under the law, but exempted personnel of armed forces and judges of superior courts.

Because of some legal complications the committee is undecided about applying the law on judges and military personnel and they do not come under the purview of NAB and other civilian anti-corruption organisations. The reason for this is that both institutions have their own systems of accountability.

In the seventh meeting, the committee had unanimously approved three sections related to punishment for corruption, disqualification, voluntary return and cognisable offences of the accountability bill.

Source: Dawn