KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered on Wednesday that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would continue operating in the province and also sought a list of parliamentarians facing corruption charges.
In July, the Sindh Assembly had the controversial Sindh Accountability Act 2017 with a majority vote.
On August 13, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had warned that the provincial government would take action against NAB if it interfered in the affairs of its departments after the province’s own anti-graft law.
However, the SHC has allowed NAB to resume its work after a few lawmakers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a petition in the court.
Hearing the petition, SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh ordered the a list of lawmakers facing NAB inquiries be presented to the court.
The advocate general argued that federal laws were no longer applicable in Sindh. In response, the chief justice remarked would be right if the higher judiciary stopped special courts including anti-narcotics court from operating.
NAB prosecutor Waqas Dar told the court that the provincial government’s new law was affecting the operations of the graft watchdog.
The advocate general told the court that a similar case was also pending in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The chief justice inquired as to whether the matter would settled by the Council of Common Interests. the advocate general replied that a dispute between provinces was settled by the top court. The additional attorney general and the NAB prosecutor told the court that they were unaware of the case pending the Supreme Court.
