NAB may prevent closure of many graft cases

• Proposal seeks to apply inflation adjustment mechanism.
• Move can significantly reduce number of corruption cases.
• Fresh proposal intended to address concern via legal interpretation.

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is considering an innovative legal interpretation aimed at preventing the closure of a large number of corruption cases that may otherwise fall outside its jurisdiction because of the inflation-linked increase in the bureau's financial threshold.

Well-placed sources told The News that a proposal is under consideration within NAB and is expected to be placed before the Executive Board Meeting (EBM) for a policy decision.

The proposal seeks to apply the same inflation adjustment mechanism — which has effectively raised NAB's jurisdictional threshold from Rs500 million to over Rs800 million — to the value of the alleged loss suffered by the victim, whether an individual, a public institution or the national exchequer.

Under this interpretation, if an accused seeks to benefit from the amended law by arguing that the alleged corruption amount now falls below the revised inflation-adjusted threshold, the value of the allegedly embezzled or misappropriated amount would also be recalculated after applying the same inflation formula.

This could substantially increase the present-day value of the alleged loss, potentially bringing the case back within NAB's jurisdiction. Sources said the proposal is based on the principle that the inflation-linked amendment should not operate exclusively for the benefit of the accused while ignoring the erosion in the value of the money allegedly lost by the victim due to inflation.

The move, if approved by the EBM and subsequently adopted by NAB, could significantly reduce the number of corruption cases likely to be dropped because of the amended jurisdictional threshold.

As reported earlier by The News the last amendment to the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 linked NAB's minimum financial threshold of Rs500 million with the inflation index published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, with effect from July 1, 2022. According to NAB sources, cumulative inflation since then had pushed the effective threshold well above Rs800 million.

The amendment has raised concerns within accountability circles that numerous inquiries, investigations and references involving amounts below the revised threshold may have to be closed or withdrawn for want of jurisdiction.

Sources said the fresh proposal is intended to address that concern through a legal interpretation of the same statutory provision rather than seeking another legislative amendment.

However, legal experts believe the proposal may itself be open to judicial scrutiny if challenged, as the courts would ultimately determine whether the inflation adjustment can be applied not only to NAB's jurisdictional threshold but also to the valuation of the alleged financial loss in corruption cases. No final decision has yet been taken, and the proposal remains under consideration by NAB;s top management.  

Originally published in The News