NA passes National Accountability (2nd Amend) Bill with majority

The lower house of Parliament has passed the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 with the majority, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf presided over the National Assembly session on Wednesday. The House passed the National Accountability (2022) 2nd Amendment Bill with the majority.

The bill was presented by Minister of State for Law Senator Shahadat Awan.

The bill is aimed at excluding private transactions from the scope of National Accountability. Under the amendments, the pecuniary jurisdiction of the NAB has been fixed to take only action against mega scandals. Further, it has been proposed that supplementary references can only be filed with the permission of the court to expedite the proceedings of the court within one year. 

As per the bill, the investigation officers shall not harass any person at the time of investigation or inquiry and they will confine their questions relevant to the investigation or inquiry or for extracting evidence. 

Under the bill, the accused must be informed whether he has been summoned in the capacity of accused or witness, and information be given to him to enable him to give his evidence. Section 25 is related to protecting the interest of the government that in case persons entering into a plea bargain fail to make payment, pursuant to the payment approved by the court, the plea bargain agreement will become infructuous.

PML-N MNA Zehra Wadood Fatima also presented an amendment seeking to grant exemption to the Board and Trustees. The government backed her amendment. 

Besides this, the National Assembly also adopted Amendment Bill to Pakistan Publication Rules, 2022 with the majority.

The bill was also presented by Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan.

Reporter Usman Khan