Nothing shows more clearly how accountability has become merely a cover for ‘getting’ the opposition than the latest amendments to the National Bureau of Investigation Ordinance, supposedly the cornerstone of the structure designed to keep holders of public office on the straight and narrow. The members of the present government suffered from the PTI government’s use of the NABO, particularly the provision for upto 90 days of remand. Among other things, the remand period was scaled back to 14 days by the present coalition
When it took over the government. The statute was challenged by the PTI, now in the opposition, but now the government has once again enhanced the remand from 14 days to 30. It also once again allowed the detention of someone wanted for an enquiry, on the basis of warrants issued by the Chairman. This is about as clear a demonstration of ‘boot on the other foot’ as one can get. It should be noted that PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested in a NAB case on May 9, and the current ordinance seemed designed to hold him this time.
The problem is with the whole system of accountability, which has been operated by governments as a weapon against opponents, rather than out of a genuine desire to punish the perversion of public office to private ends. NABO was promulgated by a military regime, and was used also by the PTI against political opponents. It is perhaps ironic that NAB was not used by the PTI to pursue the kind of accountability that it had emphasized during its 2018 election campaign. Ever since his government’s dismissal, Mr Khan has been attempting to throw the blame for its failures in accountability onto then COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, claiming that he had controlled the mechanism.
After more than two decades, it should be accepted that the experiment has not yielded results. Now that the present government has joined its predecessors in tweaking NABO for political ends, not for accountability, it is perhaps time to concede that the public exchequer should be spared its burden, and the ordinary legal processes of the justice system should be left to handle corruption. One of the flaws NABO suffered from were the exceptions it made of the military and the judiciary. That must also be kept in mind while discussing how to tackle corruption.
