ISLAMABAD: The NAB will have to drop a large number of corruption cases involving amounts below around Rs800 million following a recent amendment to the NAB law which links the minimum financial threshold for the bureau to take cognizance of offences with inflation.
Sources in NAB told The News that the inflationary adjustment mechanism, introduced through the amendment, has already increased the effective threshold from the original Rs500 million to around Rs800 million, potentially putting many ongoing cases, investigations and references outside the bureau’s jurisdiction.
Previously, NAB could only initiate proceedings in corruption cases involving at least Rs500 million. However, the law was amended to link this threshold with inflation with effect from July 1, 2022.
The change was introduced through an amendment to Section 5 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, which states that the amount of Rs500 million “shall be adjusted for each financial year starting from July 1, 2022, based on the inflation index published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.” The amendment reads: “In the said Ordinance, in section 5, in clause (6), after the word ‘rupees’, the comma and words ‘which shall be adjusted for each financial year starting from the 1st day of July, 2022, based on inflation index published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ shall be inserted.
Sources within NAB said the inflationary impact since 2022 has already pushed the practical threshold to around Rs800 million. However, the bureau has yet to publicly comment on the matter.
There is no explanation offered either by the government or Parliament, which made the controversial amendment, but sources fear that it might have been done to drop some selected cases of corruption. The sources, however, could not share any case of any alleged influential beneficiary.
Because of the change in threshold, sources believe that the amendment would lead to the closure or withdrawal of many cases, including references pending before accountability courts as well as ongoing investigations and inquiries that fall below the revised limit.
It was already reported by this newspaper that the NAB had earlier proposed to the government and Parliament that the minimum threshold be reduced from Rs500 million to Rs300 million to enable the bureau to pursue more corruption cases. However, the proposal was not accepted.
Instead of lowering the limit, lawmakers opted to further increase the effective threshold by linking it with inflation, a move, sources believe, will shield an even larger number of corruption cases from NAB’s jurisdiction.
On Monday, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar was approached for comment on why parliament linked the Rs500 million threshold for the NAB cases with inflation, effectively increasing the limit, but he did not respond. He was sent a reminder on Tuesday, but he ignored it.
