New SOPs to protect Parliamentarians

Islamabad: As the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) saved businessmen and bureaucrats from harassment like in the past, it has issued new SOPs to protect all parliamentarians, including members of the National Assembly, senators, and members of the provincial assembly from harassment in frivolous cases of corruption and to prevent arbitrary arrest.

To ensure that corruption cases against Members of Parliament are dealt with fairly, a mechanism of close monitoring by the Watchdog of Parliament (Chairman Senate, National Assembly, and Speakers of Provincial Assemblies) has been introduced to protect the rights and interests of such Members of Parliament who are being investigated.

A Parliamentary Accountability Facilitation Cell (PAFC) is being established to discourage malicious, frivolous, anonymous, and fictitious complaints against MPs. All complaints received by NAB against MPs under the new SOPs will be immediately brought to the notice of Chairman NAB before further action.

In the first instance, with the approval of Chairman NAB, the complaint will be forwarded to the Chairman Senate or the Speaker of the National Assembly or the concerned Provincial Assembly for input and opinion. However, the complaint will be kept confidential. The Chairman Senate, National Assembly, or Speaker of the Provincial Assembly (depending on the nature of the matter) shall send his findings to the NAB headquarters through a report within four weeks after the preliminary investigation.

After considering the report, further course of action will be decided by Chairman NAB. All correspondence with the respondent Member of Parliament to confirm the complaint or share information at the inquiry stage shall be through the PAFC. The identity of the accused Member of Parliament will be kept confidential pending the verification and inquiry stage of the complaints to protect his reputation from undue damage.

No Member of Parliament will be summoned during the Complaint Verification and Inquiry stage by NAB. Considering the circumstances, if it is felt that this attendance is necessary for the sake of justice, then the clear approval of Chairman NAB will be necessary before it is summoned.

Any kind of coercive action against a Member of Parliament, including inclusion of a name in the Exit Control List (ECL), etc. will be immediately reported to the Speaker or Chairman of the Senate. If it is intended to conduct an inquiry through NAB, the Chairman or the Speaker can send a complaint against any Member of Parliament at will.

Point of Facilitation Cell will be established in NAB and Senate, National Assembly, and Provincial Assemblies. On behalf of NAB, the Director Complaints Cell will act as the Focal Person while in the case of the Senate and National Assembly an officer not less than grade 21 and in the case of Provincial Assemblies an officer not less than grade 20, will be nominated by the Speaker of the concerned House or the Chairman of the Senate as the Focal Person.

Before this development, NAB had issued similar SOPs for businessmen and bureaucrats.

In case of complaints against government employees, the following instructions have been issued which are strictly followed:

1) Anonymous complaints against government employees will not be entertained.

2) The identity of government officials will be kept confidential during the complaint verification process.

3) Regional Director Generals have been given the authority to process complaints against officers up to grade 19, while the approval of Chairman NAB will be required to process complaints against officers of grade 20 and above.

4) Government servants will not be summoned in person to the premises of NAB during the verification and inquiry phase of the complaint.

5) Accountability Facilitation Cells (AFCs) will be established by the Regional Director Generals in consultation with the respective Provincial Chief Secretaries in the concerned Civil Secretariat

6) All correspondence and information sharing will be done through the AFCs.

The SOPs for consideration of complaints against traders:

1) Any anonymous complaint against traders will not be entertained.

2) The identity of the traders will be kept strictly confidential.

3) No trader shall be summoned to the NAB premises during the verification phase of the complaint.

4) A separate Business Facilitation Cell (BFC) will be established in the NAB Regional Office for dignified investigation. The BFC will consist of representatives of the respective Chambers of Commerce and Industry, representatives of Realtors' Associations, and representatives of other business organizations (if deemed necessary on a case-by-case basis).