ISLAMABAD:The National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed by Senate with majority vote preventing the investigation officer from harassing any person at the time of investigation or inquiry.
The Bill moved by Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan was aimed to exclude private transactions from the scope of National Accountability. Through the insertion of the proposed amendments, the pecuniary jurisdiction of the NAB has been fixed to take action only against mega scandals.
Further, it was proposed that supplementary reference could only be filed with the permission of the court to expedite the proceedings of the court within one-year.
Also, after the proposed amendments, the Investigation Officers shall not harass any person at the time of investigation or inquiry and confine his questions relevant to the investigation or inquiry or for extracting evidence and that the accused must be informed whether he has been summoned in the capacity of accused or witness and information be given to him to enable him to give his evidence.
Section 25 is related to protect the interest of the government that in case persons entering the plea bargain fail to make payment pursuant to the payment approved by the court, the plea bargain agreement will become infructuous. The National Assembly has already passed the Bill.