NAB ordinance a probable breath of fresh air for politicians, bureaucracy: sources

ISLAMABAD: Sources privy to the development have reported that politicians and bureaucracy have taken a huge sigh of relief after passing of the recent NAB Amendment Ordinance, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Sources claimed that due to the new amendment the national accountability bureau (NAB) and accountability courts are bound to lose reign on huge corruption cases against prominent politicians and members of the bureaucracy.

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The ongoing LNG scandal case against former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the former Federal Minister for Finance, Miftah Ismail is likely to be taken away from the jurisdiction of the anti-graft watchdog.

Sources further revealed that the current Mega Money Laundering inquiry against former President of the country, Asif Ali Zardari will now be handled solely by the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and not NAB.

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Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, Sibtain Khan, Saad Rafique, and Aleem Khan are likely to escape NAB’s grasp and their cases referred to different institutes tasked with disseminating law and order.

Bureaucrats like Fawad Hassan Fawad, Ahad Cheema, and Waseem Ajmal are also likely to be dealt by varying law and order institutes other than the national accountability bureau.

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Mega corruption cases like the Saaf Paani Scandal, Ashiyana Housing Scheme Scandal, Paragon Housing reference, Parkview society case and Chiniot corruption case have also been disclosed to be on a long list of high-priority cases that the bureau would not be allowed to pursue further.

The cases will now be distributed among and be dealt with by the office of the FIA, excise, customs and anti-smuggling courts, sources claimed further.