The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has transferred 161 high-profile cases to the Anti-Corruption Department after recent amendments were upheld by the Supreme Court.
The cases involve officials from key departments, including the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), Malir Development Authority (MDA), Board of Revenue, Agriculture Department, Irrigation Department, Works and Services Department, School Education Department, and Excise Department.
Other implicated officers are from the Public Health Engineering Department, Health Department, Local Government Department, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, and Sindh Building Control Authority.
Following the transfer, the Anti-Corruption Department will take charge of investigating these cases. The Supreme Court’s decision to restore the NAB amendments led to this shift, with NAB handing over the cases to provincial authorities.
The Anti-Corruption Department has already begun by requesting records from relevant departments, and notices to the involved officers are expected soon.
On September 7, former Prime Minister Imran Khan sought relief in a £190 million case following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the NAB amendments. This is the first acquittal petition filed by Khan’s legal team in response to the case, which involves financial misconduct allegations.
On September 6, the Supreme Court reinstated the NAB law amendments, approving the federal government’s intra-court appeal. The ruling, delivered by a five-member bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, overturned a previous decision by a two-member bench that had annulled the amendments.
The court unanimously ruled that Imran Khan failed to prove the amendments were unconstitutional. The judgement emphasized that constitutional institutions should respect each other’s authority, noting, “The chief justice and Supreme Court judges are not the gatekeepers of parliament.”
