ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had approved in principle the proposal to clamp lifetime ban on convicts of corruption from holding a public or government office.
While addressing a Press Conference in Islamabad, the minister said that there should have been stern punishments for people involved in corruption, adding that any individual making plea bargain should have been disqualified for lifetime.
The minister said that an amendment in article 25 (A) of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance had been proposed to that effect and an ordinance would be issued by tonight. He said that the amendment in the ordinance would be applicable from tomorrow (Sunday).
The finance minister said that the amendment in the NAB ordinance would be presented before the Senate on Monday and procedure of ordinance was adopted in order to avoid delay.
Ishaq Dar clarified that the proposed amendment would not be applicable to the past cases.
The Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid said that under the proposed amendment in the NAB ordinance, discrimination between the voluntary return and the plea bargain had been ended and now the court approval would also be required on the matter.
Zahid Hamid said that a 20-member parliamentary committee was also constituted to revisit the NAB ordinance 1999 and propose recommendations in it. He said that the committee would hold its first meeting on Monday and elect its Chairman.
