Sindh governor refuses to approve anti-NAB bill

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair refused on Friday to approve a bill which seeks to repeal the applicability of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999 in the province, according to Governor House sources.

Moreover, the governor sent the notification back along with an objection note to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Regarding his concerns, Zubair said that repealing NAO is against public interest, adding “it is our responsibility to ensure the elimination of corruption.”

On July 3, the Sindh Assembly had passed the 'anti-National Accountability Bureau (NAB) bill', which was tabled by the provincial government.

The bill seeks to curtail NAB’s powers and give it the mandate to probe and hear cases related to federal institutions.

The bill points out that legislative and executive authority of the province extends to "offences with respect to provincial subjects" and measures to combat corruption" being residual subjects under the Constitution

Furthermore, it adds, "emergency legislation on any provincial subject by the parliament ceases to have any effect six months of lifting emergency under Article 232 (5) and 234 (6) of the Constitution.

On June 30, the Sindh cabinet had gave their approval to repeal the NAB ordinance in the province.

The approval was given in a high-level meeting chaired by Murad Ali Shah at the CM House after a briefing on the subject by Advocate General for Sindh Zamir Ghumro.

According to Sindh’s advocate general, corruption cases related to provincial institutions will now be probed by the Provincial Ehtesab Bureau.