LAHORE -  Punjab Assembly yesterday deliberated on the issue of anti-graft body NAB’s arbitrary powers of making arrests without having any solid evidence of corruption against the politicians and the bureaucrats.

Held against the backdrop of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani’s arrest by the accountability bureau, the Assembly debate threw up mixed opinions on the subject, though both the Opposition and the Treasury feel equally haunted by the NAB activism.

It was for obvious reasons that the PML-N and the PPP were on the same page and demanded an end to the ongoing prosecution of the politicians at the hands of NAB authorities.

The joint Opposition also staged a token boycott of House proceedings to register their protest over the arrest of Sindh Assembly Speaker.

The Opposition members, however, rejoined the proceedings after assurance from the Treasury that the chair would allow House debate on the issue.

The Opposition lawmakers called for making amendments in NAB laws to stop the anti-graft body from picking up politicians merely on the suspicions that they had committed corruption. They feared that Punjab Assembly Speake Ch Parvez Elahi could also be nabbed by the NAB authorities one day. 

They pleaded that NAB should not be allowed to arrest any person unless the charges framed against him are proved in the Accountability Court.

They also expressed solidarity with the PTI legislator Aleem Khan who is under trial in a NAB court.

“It is yet to be established whether or not Aleem Khan is a thief but he has been picked up by the NAB beforehand”, PML-N’s Zakia Shahnawaz remarked in her speech. 

PPP’s Parliamentary Leader Syed Hassan Murtaza kicked off the debate questioning the fairness of NAB’s actions against the politicians. “If the NAB is to make arrests merely for conducting inquiries, then all the accused including the Defence Minister, KPK Chief Minister and Babar Awan should also be arrested ”, he made his point.

What message we are sending to the smaller provinces, he stated.

Azma Zahid Bukhari of the PML-N spoke about what she called selective accountability by the accountability bureau.

She pleaded that accountability law should apply equally on the politicians, the judges and the generals. Why the politicians are the easy target of the NAB?.

Azma demanded across the board accountability of all State institutions under one system.

The PTI lawmakers, on the other hand, showed a mixed reaction. While they supported the bureau in its campaign against the corrupt elements, they also stressed the need for changing the NAB laws to curtail its powers.

Punjab Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Muhammad Basharat Raja invited the leadership of all Opposition parties in the Parliament to strengthen the hands of the Federal Government to make changes in the NAB laws.

He, however, disagreed with the Opposition that there should be one law for the accountability of all the State organs.

The Minister argued that the judiciary and the Army had their own in-built systems of accountability and, hence, there was no need for bring them under the ambit of one law.

Basharat stressed upon the politicians to evolve a system of self-accountability on the pattern of the Army and the judiciary.

As the Law Minister conceded Opposition’s demand for making changes in the NAB laws and also defended the Army and the judiciary for their in-built accountability systems, his statement sounded more like killing two birds with one stone.

Basharat also dispelled the impression that NAB enjoyed the backing of the present government, stating that the PTI lawmakers were also among the NAB affectees.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan deserved credit for setting the precedent that any party man with allegation of corruption will have to quit his office.

He also commended the former Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo for having done the same during his the then tenure.

He also reminded the Opposition parties that they did not change the NAB laws in their respective tenures in power.

PTI’s Muhammad Amin Qureshi told the House that Opposition was trying to confuse the things by mixing up two different issues. According to him, the case of Aleem Khan and that of Agha Siraj Durrani were two entirely different issues in nature.

Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari and Chairman Muhammad Shafi conducted House proceedings in the absence of Speaker Ch Parvez Elahi.

PPP legislators attended the sitting wearing black ribbons around their arms.