Daily Times

PTI leader and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday accused the government of amending the accountability laws to protect what he called the ‘corrupt elite class’ and alleged that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be ‘direct beneficiaries of the changes’.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Qureshi alleged that the amendments made by the government to the NAB Ordinance, 1999 were the ones they had once proposed to the PTI in an attempt to get the NRO – a term politicians used to imply concessions.

The National Assembly had on May 26 approved the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021.

According to Qureshi, the prime minister will be a direct beneficiary of the amendment made in Section-9 (A-V) which deals with corruption and corrupt practices as well as wealth beyond sources of income, says a news report. Similarly, the former minister claimed PML-N supremo Nawaz will also directly benefit from changes in Section-14 of the NAO, which relates to “presumption against accused accepting illegal gratification”.

Under this section, the suspect who was bound to furnish a money trail will no longer be required to provide the same, he added. He told journalists that a blanket cover had been given to all cases pertaining to money laundering and asset beyond means.

“After the amendment, the legal and statutory protection to NAB has been compromised and it has now come under the federal government.”

The senior PTI leader said his party had decided to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the amendments along with other election-related legislation passed by the government, saying “we also urge the top court to take notice of changes to the NAB law which has made the accountability watchdog dysfunctional”. He was of the view that the entire exercise undertaken by the PML-N-led government was aimed at “benefitting” political personalities who were facing high profile cases.