| Alvi believes bill passed in Joint Session is repressive in nature and will promote corruption

ISLAMABAD    -   President Dr Arif Alvi has sent back the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022 unsigned to the Prime Minister’s office while stating that he believes the bill, as passed by the parliament, is regressive in nature, and it will promote corruption by ensuring that the long arm of the law is crippled.

It’s the second bill which the President did not sign and returned to the PM office in the last two days.

On Sunday, President Alvi returned the Electronic Voting Machine/Overseas Pakistanis vote amendment bill 2022 to the PM office with a detailed letter explaining the reasons of not signing the bill.

The President while giving reasons for not signing the NAB bill 2022 said that the bill sends a message to the corrupt, who have amassed tremendous wealth and about which there is no doubt in the minds of the people of Pakistan, that they are not accountable and are free to continue to plunder the national wealth.

The President in his letter to the PM lamented that the common man will be caught for petty crimes while the corrupt rich will remain free to continue with their blood-sucking abhorrent practices.

Having weak accountability is against the basic rights of the people of Pakistan who are the suffering masses, and, therefore, it is also against the fundamentals of our Constitution, he added.

The President said in his observation that he is aware of the fact, in view of the ‘deeming’ provision under Article 75 (2) of the Constitution of Pakistan, that the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2022 will be enacted into law even if the President of Pakistan does not sign the bill.

While further elaborating his reasons for not signing the bill, the President said that the world has struggled to control white-collar crime.

President Alvi said black money, acquired through tax evasion or through other avenues of crime and corruption, especially by politically exposed persons, do not leave easy tracks or a trail that can be followed.

He said that the exercise undertaken under FATF itself is an example of decades-long efforts to block all avenues of money laundering.

The President said this is where we should take inspiration from Islam and referred to an incident frequently quoted as of Caliph Hazrat Umar (RA), who was asked to explain how he acquired two pieces of cloth used in the cloak he was wearing, instead of the one everybody was given. And because he had it in his possession, he explained the source.

The President said this incident laid down two fundamental principles of accountability; one, that the onus of the prosecution or the accuser was to make sure that the item, in this case, an extra piece of cloth, was in the possession of the person (Hazrat Umar RA), and second, that the onus to justify the source of the item (wealth) was upon the accused.

While further elaborating, the President said that the principle of justice for all crimes is that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The exception is that the accused must present a money trail, for example, where and how did he get an extra piece of cloth, any property, or wealth that is in his possession.

This is similar to the case when an instrument of crime, for example, a gun is found in the possession of an accused; he must explain how he acquired it. This principle was embodied in the NAB Ordinance.

The President in his letter said the onus of the prosecution was to prove possession and that of the accused was to show the money trail.

The possession of unexplained wealth was a crime in Pakistan until these amendments which have diluted the concept, making it substantially ineffective, he added.

The President said that as has been observed by the Superior Judiciary, reflecting the general perceptions, that unfortunately, there were flaws in the implementation of the NAB Ordinance.

This law, like all other laws vesting authority in the executive, was abused for political exigencies by those in power.

He said because of this reason, along with the role of vested interests, the accountability process in Pakistan became quite ineffective.