NAB amendment bill passed by joint sitting of parliament

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Bill 2023 has been passed by the joint sitting of the parliament, whereas, the amendments recommended by the opposition were rejected, ARY News reported on Monday.

The joint sitting of the parliament was held under the chair of the National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf today. During the session, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed presented the draft amendments to the NAB bill, which were rejected.

Speaking on the floor, Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said that some people are still unaccountable and the scope of accountability must cover all persons indiscriminately. He demanded the parliament conduct a thorough debate on the NAB amendment bill. Senator Ahmed highlighted that corruption worth billions of rupees had been committed in the power sector.

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The senator added that it would be a legal violation to directly appoint the NAB chairman. The appointment of the NAB chairman should be made after the consultation of the prime minister and the opposition leader.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Naveed Qamar said that the passed amendments cannot be debated anymore, otherwise, it would set a new example.

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said that people faced extreme troubles due to the NAB regulations. He criticised that the parliament has never made any interference in the affairs of other institutions but continuous interference is being made in parliamentary affairs.

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He added that the legislation of the parliament cannot be questioned by any individual or institution. A political party had raised objections to the NAB regulations despite taking benefits. He further criticised that the president is unaware of his jurisdiction despite being part of the parliament.

Later, the NAB amendment bill was passed by the joint sitting of the parliament.

The joint sitting of the parliament passed eight bills today.

These include “The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023”, “The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2021”, “The Trained Paramedical Staff Facility Bill, 2019”, “The Day Care Centres Bill, 2019”, “The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2020”, “The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022”, “The Limitation (Amendment) Bill, 2022” and “The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2022.”