The National Accountability Bureau is considering a new interpretation of the law aimed at preventing a large number of corruption cases from being closed.
According to informed sources, a proposal is currently under consideration within NAB and is likely to be presented soon before the Executive Board Meeting for a policy decision.
Under the proposal, the same inflation-based principle that increased NAB’s financial threshold from Rs500 million to around Rs800 million could also be applied to the alleged financial loss suffered by the affected party.
The affected party may be an individual, a government institution or the national exchequer.
Under this interpretation, if an accused person argues that the alleged corruption amount has fallen below the revised financial threshold and is therefore outside NAB’s jurisdiction, the current value of the alleged embezzled or misappropriated amount would also be recalculated using the same inflation formula.
In that case, the present value of the alleged financial loss could increase significantly, potentially bringing the case back within NAB’s jurisdiction.
Sources said the proposal is based on the principle that an inflation-related legal amendment should not benefit only the accused, but should also account for the real value of the financial loss suffered by the affected party.
If approved by the Executive Board Meeting and later adopted by NAB, the proposal could significantly reduce the number of corruption cases being closed due to the revised financial threshold.
The latest amendment to the NAB Ordinance linked the minimum financial threshold of Rs500 million with inflation indicators issued by the statistics department from July 1, 2022.
According to NAB sources, cumulative inflation since then has raised the threshold to around Rs800 million.
After the amendment, accountability circles feared that several inquiries, investigations and references below the revised threshold could be closed or withdrawn on jurisdictional grounds.
Sources said the new proposal seeks to resolve the issue through interpretation of the existing legal provision rather than fresh legislation.
Legal experts say the interpretation may face judicial review if challenged, as courts will ultimately decide whether the inflation formula can apply only to NAB’s financial threshold or also to the value of alleged financial losses in corruption cases.
Sources said no final decision has been taken yet and the proposal remains under consideration by NAB’s senior leadership.
