President Dr. Arif Alvi rejects bill amending NAB Ordinance

President Dr. Arif Alvi has rejected the bill amending NAB Ordinance!

President Arif Alvi on Monday rejected a bill amending the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance due to the “flaws in its implementation”.

An official statement in this regard has been issued via the President of Pakistan’s Twitter handle.

“President has not signed the bill amending NAB Ordinance. He wrote that as conceived originally, the bill took inspiration from Hazrat Umar’s incident when asked about the source of extra cloth in his cloak. The onus in financial crimes is on the accused to provide a money trail,” it said.

“Unfortunately there were flaws in NAB’s implementation. It was misused for political exigencies by those in power & by vested interests. While public clamored for the return of looted wealth, long judicial processes & poor prosecution failed most effort,” the president said.

“Instead of improving the law to avoid miscarriage, to close loopholes & make it stronger, we are weakening it beyond recognition. These changes will demolish accountability, creating a façade of justice that blatantly hides a corrupt elite capture ensuring the exploitation of the common man in an unjust society,” it added.

President said, Poor, will continue to be jailed for petty crimes while corrupt rich will be free to loot & plunder.

“I personally abide by the Constitution, we must act upon injunctions of Quran and Sunnah, and above all, I am answerable to Allah asking for His forgiveness,” President Alvi said, adding, “Therefore, with deep discomfort and pain, I state that my conscience does not allow me to sign this Bill. Please read his complete response here.”