ISLAMABAD: A special committee of the Senate on Friday discussed the mechanism for accountability of judges through parliament and the National Accountability Bureau’s power of investigation under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010.
Senator Farooq Naik, who chaired the meeting, said it was important to define which case came under the Act and what powers, both FIA and NAB, had in this regard.
He questioned what were the reasons for Pakistan being on the FATF grey list and what rules and regulations were on statuary books in this regard. He sought a detailed briefing from the NAB, FIA chiefs and the finance secretary in the next meeting.
Regarding the mechanism of accountability of judges and judicial officers, the convener of the committee called for a briefing, firstly from law ministry on the issue.
Senator Javed Abbasi said that the current mechanism was not effective since many cases of misconduct of judicial officers were still pending and added: “We should follow the model of other developed countries.”
Senator Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said that it was a common practice in the world, that laws were enacted after taking the stakeholders — civil society, media and bar associations — on board.
The convener said that it was appropriate to take briefing from the law secretary first and then take the opinion of stakeholders.
Regarding the mechanism for acquiring land and payments through Section 4-k of Land Acquisition Act, the committee convener expressed reservations and said that people were facing severe problems.
He directed the Interior Ministry officials to finalize proposals in this regard and put these before the committee. Islamabad District Collector Waseem Ahmed briefed the committee about the current mechanism in this regard.
