The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government led by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) amended the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 2000.
The move is expected to weaken over 90% of high-profile cases that the anti-corruption watchdog had been investigating, a NAB report submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has revealed.
According to details, NAB furnished the report during the hearing of a case filed by Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who contended that public office holders including politicians will be the biggest beneficiaries of the NAB Ordinance amendments.
Contents of the NAB report revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will also benefit from the amendments. Probe into three cases against the incumbent premier will be affected because the amount involved in these cases is less than Rs. 500 million.
Other beneficiaries include Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam Nawaz, Faryal Talpur, Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Rana Sanaullah, Javed Lateef, Makhdoom Khosro Bakhtiar, Amir Mehmood Kayani, Akram Durani, Saleem Mandiwala, Noor Alam Khan, Nawab Aslam Riasani, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, Barjees Tahir, Nawab Ali Wasan, Sharjeel Memom, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Liaqat Jatoi, Amir Maqam, Goram Bugti, Jaffer Khan Mandokhel, and Syed Mehdi Shah.
The report further disclosed that 755 cases at the inquiry stage and 292 cases at the investigation stage will be impacted under NAB amendments. In 510 cases, the involved amount is less than Rs. 500 million, which will be impacted by these amendments. 371 cases related to assets beyond means and 89 cases of cheating will also be affected.
