Pakistan Supreme Court says NAB facilitating corruption, seeks govt. reply

A two-member bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court has sought a reply from the government over National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) power of voluntary return while stating that the institution has become a facilitator of corruption.

Justice Azmat Saeed said on Monday that the NAB had become a facilitator for corruption as it resumed hearing a case regarding voluntary return of funds-which allows an individual pay back the amount he has embezzled to the public kitty and gets cleared of all charges, reports Geo News.

During the proceeding, Justice Saeed said that a peon who takes Rs. 250 as bribe is sent to jail while a person who takes Rs25 million as bribe is let go.

Reprimanding the NAB for corruption, he said, "Why doesn't NAB place advertisements of "do corruption, get corruption done" in the paper?"

An NAB prosecutor replied that the voluntary return law had not been formulated by NAB.

To this, Justice Amir Hani Muslim said that the NAB was misusing the law. "Why doesn't NAB lay its hands on the big fish?"

The hearing of the case was adjourned for two weeks.

The Supreme Court took away powers of voluntary return from the NAB chairman in October.