Accountability courts wear deserted look after NAB Ordinance 2022

The accountability courts have worn a deserted look after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 2022 brought in, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Saturday.  

According to sources, 85 per cent of the cases have been ended following the drastic changes in the anti-graft law.  

They said the accountability courts have become desolate due to the reduction in the number of litigants and lawyers. 

The sources said that 20 cases are still pending in Court No 6 as there was no judge in this court for a long time. Out of these 20 cases, 17 references are under the new NAB law. The accused have challenged the jurisdiction of the court. Less than 40 cases are left in the accountability court while more than 80 cases have been sent back to NAB following the new ordinance.  

Pertinent to mention, extensive changes were made to the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, by parliament earlier this year through the enactment of the NAB (Amendment) Act, 2022, and National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2022, which were published in the official Gazette on June 22 and Aug 16, 2022, respectively.

The most important amendment was made to Section 5(O) of the NAO to define the offence of corruption and corrupt practices as one involving an amount not less than Rs500 million.