The proceedings of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are time and again being questioned due to the public nature of their trials along with the amount of power vested in the institution, allowing them to exercise authority extra-judicially. The case which has once again opened up this debate is the case of the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, which has resulted in the imprisonment of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail, and it has been termed as the violation of fundamental human rights by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The reason why it has been termed so is that the imprisonment is not because the court has managed to prove the wrongdoings of both the individuals involved and NAB lacks the expertise to investigate white-collar crimes, resulting in the expulsion of basic rights guaranteed in the constitution.

This takes away the credibility of the institution and highlights how these public and media trials only guarantee attention and not resolution of the crimes. The constitution of Pakistan guarantees a fair trial along with freedom of movement which the NAB inquiry at the moment prohibits despite the lack of concrete proof. There is a dire need for reforms in the institution and the government needs to play its part in the process despite claiming that the investigations of the institution are independent. If NAB is imprisoning opposition members based on hunches, then there is a need to stop such investigations and invest in proper expertise to investigate white-collar crimes, otherwise, institutions such as NAB will remain politicised and work to gather attention in the media rather than investigate their suspects in a private manner so that their dignity and privacy can be respected as per law until proven guilty.