KARACHI: The Sindh United Party (SUP) has challenged in Sindh High Court a new law passed by the Sindh Assembly that repeals applicability of the National Accountability Ordinance to provincial government departments and autonomous bodies controlled by it. SUP leader Zainal Abideen through his counsel Aqib Rajper filed the petition. He appeared before a bench of the court, which issued notices to the Sindh government and other respondents for September 11, 2017. The SUP leader in his petition argued that the Sindh government wanted to impose a controversial law in the provincial in the garb of provincial autonomy. He further argued that the law was aimed at protecting corruption of the provincial government hierarchy. He pleaded the court to declare the law ultra vires of the constitution, thus null and void. It is pertinent to mention here that different opposition parties and civil society organisations have already moved the court against the law. The court had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to continue with its inquiries and investigation against Sindh MPAs, bureaucrats and others on graft charges. Opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, social welfare organisation Pasban and two civil rights campaigners had filed the petitions against the provincial law that repealed the applicability of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), better known as NAB law, in the province. During the previous hearing of the petitions, the NAB while submitting reply on the petition had urged the SHC to strike down the provincial law. According to the petitioners, the NAO 1999 Sindh Repeal Act, 2017 was an attempt by the PPP to protect its corruption. They claimed that the law was against the basic scheme of the constitution. Defending the NAO, NAB in its comments stated that the Supreme Court in Asfandyar Wali case (PLD 2001 SC 607) had held that ‘the NAB ordinance has been competently promulgated and is neither ultra vires of the constitution nor does it invade the provincial autonomy in any manner’. The NAB submitted that Article 143 of the constitution was very clear about applicability of the laws enacted by parliament and the provincial assembly. It said that the NAO was distinct from the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and the FIA Act, 1947 in which there was no mechanism of recovery of swindled money.
Published in Daily Times, September 7th 2017.
